Random questions and answers (online) part 14

Conan O'Brien

"The United States of Comedy: 2035"

explicable

(adj.) capable of being explicated or accounted for (syn.) comprehensible, explainable, interpretable

Conan O'Brien

"The United States of Comedy: 2035" (Quizlet) Conan O'Brien American talk-show host Actions Alternate titles: Conan Christopher O'Brien By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Conan O'Brien, in full Conan Christopher O'Brien, (born April 18, 1963, Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.), American late-night talk-show personality and comedian best known as host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993-2009), The Tonight Show (2009-10), and Conan (2010-21). Conan O'Brien Conan O'Brien See all media Born: April 18, 1963 (age 59) Brookline Massachusetts Awards And Honors: Emmy Award (2007) Emmy Award (1989) See all related content → O'Brien was the third of six children; his mother was a lawyer, and his father practiced medicine and taught at Harvard Medical School. He displayed an early interest in entertaining and comedy, and, as a child, he took tap-dancing lessons and wrote comedic plays. In 1981 O'Brien enrolled at Harvard University, where he majored in American history and literature. There he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, the school's prestigious humour magazine, and was elected president of the magazine for an unprecedented two consecutive terms in 1983-84. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1985, O'Brien moved to Los Angeles to join the writing team for HBO's popular news-show parody Not Necessarily the News. He wrote for the program for two years and acted in several improvisational groups, including the Groundlings. In 1988 he became a writer at the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL), where he created such popular recurring characters as Mr. Short-Term Memory and the Girl Watchers. In 1989 O'Brien and other SNL writers won an Emmy Award. After leaving Saturday Night Live in 1991, O'Brien joined the writing staff of The Simpsons, a popular cartoon series about an unconventional suburban family. O'Brien's combination of satire and goofiness contributed greatly to the show's success, and O'Brien eventually became supervising producer. In 1993, after David Letterman moved his late-night talk show to CBS, NBC hired O'Brien to fill the vacant time slot. Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered in September 1993 and was greeted with a wave of media scrutiny. O'Brien was inevitably compared with Letterman, and his inexperience and nervousness in his new role showed on camera. Critics panned the program, and NBC doled out 13-week contracts one at a time, leading to speculation that the show would be canceled. O'Brien, however, gradually developed a devoted audience. Late Night with Conan O'Brien had the traditional look of a late-night talk show—with O'Brien behind a desk, sidekick Andy Richter (who was with the program until 2000) helping his jokes along, and a hip band, led by Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band), playing in the background—but O'Brien was as irreverent and silly as Letterman. His material was aimed squarely at the 18- to 34-year-old market, mixing in such recurring comedy bits as "Audience Hygiene," "Classic Films Dubbed by Children," and "Clutch Cargo," in which O'Brien "interviewed" celebrities whose images appeared on a screen with moving lips superimposed. Also popular was Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, a puppet performed by Robert Smigel. The show was nominated for numerous Emmys and won one for writing in 2007. In 2004 Jay Leno, longtime host of The Tonight Show, announced that he was leaving the talk show in 2009, and O'Brien was named his replacement. In February 2009 the last episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien aired, and O'Brien took over as host of The Tonight Show in June, with Richter again by his side. The Tonight Show hosted by O'Brien struggled in the ratings, however, and in January 2010 speculation arose that Leno would return to the program. The ensuing drama was heightened by monologue wars between the late-night comedians, who directed barbs at NBC and at each other. After heated negotiations with NBC, O'Brien left The Tonight Show in late January and was replaced by Leno. Legally prohibited from appearing on television for six months by the terms of his agreement with NBC, O'Brien embarked in April on a live comedy tour, which was filmed for the documentary feature Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011). In November 2010 he returned to late-night television as host of the talk show Conan on the cable station TBS. Amid declining ratings, the hour-long show was shortened to 30 minutes in 2019, and two years later Conan ended. During this time he started (2018) the well-received podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. In addition to hosting his talk shows, O'Brien appeared in a number of television shows and films, often portraying himself. He lent his voice to a number of animated projects, including The LEGO Batman Movie (2017), where he played the classic Batman villain the Riddler. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen. Harvard University Table of Contents Home Lifestyles & Social Issues Education Harvard University university, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Apr 26, 2022 Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Harvard University, oldest institution of higher learning in the United States (founded 1636) and one of the nation's most prestigious. It is one of the Ivy League schools. The main university campus lies along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a few miles west of downtown Boston. Harvard's total enrollment is about 23,000. John Harvard John Harvard See all media Date: 1636 - present Areas Of Involvement: coeducation Notable Alumni: Lawrence H. Summers Jerome Bruner A. Lawrence Lowell Hilary Putnam Henry Adams Related People: Lawrence H. Summers Jerome Bruner Drew Gilpin Faust Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage See all related content → Harvard's history began when a college was established at New Towne, which was later renamed Cambridge for the English alma mater of some of the leading colonists. Classes began in the summer of 1638 with one master in a single frame house and a "college yard." Harvard was named for a Puritan minister, John Harvard, who left the college his books and half of his estate. Britannica Quiz United States of America Quiz At its inception Harvard was under church sponsorship, although it was not formally affiliated with any religious body. During its first two centuries the college was gradually liberated, first from clerical and later from political control, until in 1865 the university alumni began electing members of the governing board. During his long tenure as Harvard's president (1869-1909), Charles W. Eliot made Harvard into an institution with national influence. The alumni and faculty of Harvard have been closely associated with many areas of American intellectual and political development. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Harvard had educated seven U.S. presidents—John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama—and a number of justices, cabinet officers, and congressional leaders. Literary figures among Harvard graduates include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry David Thoreau, James Russell Lowell, Henry James, Henry Adams, T.S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings, Walter Lippmann, and Norman Mailer. Other notable intellectual figures who graduated from or taught at Harvard include the historians Francis Parkman, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Samuel Eliot Morison; the astronomer Benjamin Peirce; the chemist Wolcott Gibbs; and the naturalist Louis Agassiz. William James introduced the experimental study of psychology into the United States at Harvard in the 1870s. Harvard Business School Harvard Business School Fogg Art Museum Fogg Art Museum Harvard's undergraduate school, Harvard College, contains about one-third of the total student body. The core of the university's teaching staff consists of the faculty of arts and sciences, which includes the graduate faculty of arts and sciences. The university has graduate or professional schools of medicine, law, business, divinity, education, government, dental medicine, design, and public health. The schools of law, medicine, and business are particularly prestigious. Among the advanced research institutions affiliated with Harvard are the Museum of Comparative Zoology (founded in 1859 by Agassiz), the Gray Herbarium, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Fogg Art Museum. Also associated with the university are an astronomical observatory in Harvard, Massachusetts; the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C., a centre for Byzantine and pre-Columbian studies; and the Harvard-Yenching Institute in Cambridge for research on East and Southeast Asia. The Harvard University Library is one of the largest and most important university libraries in the world. Radcliffe College, one of the Seven Sisters schools, evolved from informal instruction offered to individual women or small groups of women by Harvard University faculty in the 1870s. In 1879 a faculty group called the Harvard Annex made a full course of study available to women, despite resistance to coeducation from the university's administration. Following unsuccessful efforts to have women admitted directly to degree programs at Harvard, the Annex, which had incorporated as the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, chartered Radcliffe College in 1894. The college was named for the colonial philanthropist Ann Radcliffe, who established the first scholarship fund at Harvard in 1643. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Until the 1960s Radcliffe operated as a coordinate college, drawing most of its instructors and other resources from Harvard. Radcliffe graduates, however, were not granted Harvard degrees until 1963. Diplomas from that time on were signed by the presidents of both Harvard and Radcliffe. Women undergraduates enrolled at Radcliffe were technically also enrolled at Harvard College, and instruction was coeducational. Although its 1977 agreement with Harvard University called for the integration of select functions, Radcliffe College maintained a separate corporate identity for its property and endowments and continued to offer complementary educational and extracurricular programs for both undergraduate and graduate students, including career programs, a publishing course, and graduate-level workshops and seminars in women's studies. In 1999 Radcliffe and Harvard formally merged, and a new school, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, was established. The institute focuses on Radcliffe's former fields of study and programs and also offers such new ones as nondegree educational programs and the study of women, gender, and society. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Zeidan. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

What are some things to know in math?

-The sum of the first n odd numbers is n^2.

hot dog

4 oz all beef hot dog served on a bun. (may be topped with chili and cheese)

Gravity

A force that pulls objects toward each other A force of attraction between objects that is due to their masses. Seriousness (Quizlet) Encyclopedia Britannica Subscribe Home Science Astronomy gravity physics Actions Alternate titles: g-force, gravitation By Kenneth L. NordtvedtSee All Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic gravity, also called gravitation, in mechanics, the universal force of attraction acting between all matter. It is by far the weakest known force in nature and thus plays no role in determining the internal properties of everyday matter. On the other hand, through its long reach and universal action, it controls the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and elsewhere in the universe and the structures and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the whole cosmos. On Earth all bodies have a weight, or downward force of gravity, proportional to their mass, which Earth's mass exerts on them. Gravity is measured by the acceleration that it gives to freely falling objects. At Earth's surface the acceleration of gravity is about 9.8 metres (32 feet) per second per second. Thus, for every second an object is in free fall, its speed increases by about 9.8 metres per second. At the surface of the Moon the acceleration of a freely falling body is about 1.6 metres per second per second. gravitational lens gravitational lens See all media Key People: Kip Thorne Isaac Newton Galileo John Archibald Wheeler Simon Stevin Related Topics: Lagrange point supergravity weight Schwarzschild radius gravity anomaly See all related content → Understand the concept of gravitational force using Newton's theory of gravitation Understand the concept of gravitational force using Newton's theory of gravitationSee all videos for this article The works of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein dominate the development of gravitational theory. Newton's classical theory of gravitational force held sway from his Principia, published in 1687, until Einstein's work in the early 20th century. Newton's theory is sufficient even today for all but the most precise applications. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts only minute quantitative differences from the Newtonian theory except in a few special cases. The major significance of Einstein's theory is its radical conceptual departure from classical theory and its implications for further growth in physical thought. The launch of space vehicles and developments of research from them have led to great improvements in measurements of gravity around Earth, other planets, and the Moon and in experiments on the nature of gravitation. Development of gravitational theory Early concepts Newton argued that the movements of celestial bodies and the free fall of objects on Earth are determined by the same force. The classical Greek philosophers, on the other hand, did not consider the celestial bodies to be affected by gravity, because the bodies were observed to follow perpetually repeating nondescending trajectories in the sky. Thus, Aristotle considered that each heavenly body followed a particular "natural" motion, unaffected by external causes or agents. Aristotle also believed that massive earthly objects possess a natural tendency to move toward Earth's centre. Those Aristotelian concepts prevailed for centuries along with two others: that a body moving at constant speed requires a continuous force acting on it and that force must be applied by contact rather than interaction at a distance. These ideas were generally held until the 16th and early 17th centuries, thereby impeding an understanding of the true principles of motion and precluding the development of ideas about universal gravitation. This impasse began to change with several scientific contributions to the problem of earthly and celestial motion, which in turn set the stage for Newton's later gravitational theory. Britannica Quiz Physics and Natural Law The 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler accepted the argument of Nicolaus Copernicus (which goes back to Aristarchus of Samos) that the planets orbit the Sun, not Earth. Using the improved measurements of planetary movements made by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe during the 16th century, Kepler described the planetary orbits with simple geometric and arithmetic relations. Kepler's three quantitative laws of planetary motion are: The planets describe elliptic orbits, of which the Sun occupies one focus (a focus is one of two points inside an ellipse; any ray coming from one of them bounces off a side of the ellipse and goes through the other focus). The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times. The square of the period of revolution of a planet is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the Sun. During this same period the Italian astronomer and natural philosopher Galileo Galilei made progress in understanding "natural" motion and simple accelerated motion for earthly objects. He realized that bodies that are uninfluenced by forces continue indefinitely to move and that force is necessary to change motion, not to maintain constant motion. In studying how objects fall toward Earth, Galileo discovered that the motion is one of constant acceleration. He demonstrated that the distance a falling body travels from rest in this way varies as the square of the time. As noted above, the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of Earth is about 9.8 metres per second per second. Galileo was also the first to show by experiment that bodies fall with the same acceleration whatever their composition (the weak principle of equivalence). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Newton's law of gravity effects of gravity on the Moon and Earth effects of gravity on the Moon and Earth Newton discovered the relationship between the motion of the Moon and the motion of a body falling freely on Earth. By his dynamical and gravitational theories, he explained Kepler's laws and established the modern quantitative science of gravitation. Newton assumed the existence of an attractive force between all massive bodies, one that does not require bodily contact and that acts at a distance. By invoking his law of inertia (bodies not acted upon by a force move at constant speed in a straight line), Newton concluded that a force exerted by Earth on the Moon is needed to keep it in a circular motion about Earth rather than moving in a straight line. He realized that this force could be, at long range, the same as the force with which Earth pulls objects on its surface downward. When Newton discovered that the acceleration of the Moon is 1/3,600 smaller than the acceleration at the surface of Earth, he related the number 3,600 to the square of the radius of Earth. He calculated that the circular orbital motion of radius R and period T requires a constant inward acceleration A equal to the product of 4π2 and the ratio of the radius to the square of the time: Equation. gravitational force gravitational force The Moon's orbit has a radius of about 384,000 km (239,000 miles; approximately 60 Earth radii), and its period is 27.3 days (its synodic period, or period measured in terms of lunar phases, is about 29.5 days). Newton found the Moon's inward acceleration in its orbit to be 0.0027 metre per second per second, the same as (1/60)2 of the acceleration of a falling object at the surface of Earth. In Newton's theory every least particle of matter attracts every other particle gravitationally, and on that basis he showed that the attraction of a finite body with spherical symmetry is the same as that of the whole mass at the centre of the body. More generally, the attraction of any body at a sufficiently great distance is equal to that of the whole mass at the centre of mass. He could thus relate the two accelerations, that of the Moon and that of a body falling freely on Earth, to a common interaction, a gravitational force between bodies that diminishes as the inverse square of the distance between them. Thus, if the distance between the bodies is doubled, the force on them is reduced to a fourth of the original. Newton saw that the gravitational force between bodies must depend on the masses of the bodies. Since a body of mass M experiencing a force F accelerates at a rate F/M, a force of gravity proportional to M would be consistent with Galileo's observation that all bodies accelerate under gravity toward Earth at the same rate, a fact that Newton also tested experimentally. In Newton's equation Equation. F12 is the magnitude of the gravitational force acting between masses M1 and M2 separated by distance r12. The force equals the product of these masses and of G, a universal constant, divided by the square of the distance. The constant G is a quantity with the physical dimensions (length)3/(mass)(time)2; its numerical value depends on the physical units of length, mass, and time used. (G is discussed more fully in subsequent sections.) The force acts in the direction of the line joining the two bodies and so is represented naturally as a vector, F. If r is the vector separation of the bodies, then Equation. In this expression the factor r/r3 acts in the direction of r and is numerically equal to 1/r2. The attractive force of a number of bodies of masses M1 on a body of mass M is Equation. where Σ1 means that the forces because of all the attracting bodies must be added together vectorially. This is Newton's gravitational law essentially in its original form. A simpler expression, equation (5), gives the surface acceleration on Earth. Setting a mass equal to Earth's mass ME and the distance equal to Earth's radius rE, the downward acceleration of a body at the surface g is equal to the product of the universal gravitational constant and the mass of Earth divided by the square of the radius: Equation. Weight and mass The weight W of a body can be measured by the equal and opposite force necessary to prevent the downward acceleration; that is Mg. The same body placed on the surface of the Moon has the same mass, but, as the Moon has a mass of about 1/81 times that of Earth and a radius of just 0.27 that of Earth, the body on the lunar surface has a weight of only 1/6 its Earth weight, as the Apollo program astronauts demonstrated. Passengers and instruments in orbiting satellites are in free fall. They experience weightless conditions even though their masses remain the same as on Earth. Equations (1) and (2) can be used to derive Kepler's third law for the case of circular planetary orbits. By using the expression for the acceleration A in equation (1) for the force of gravity for the planet GMPMS/R2 divided by the planet's mass MP, the following equation, in which MS is the mass of the Sun, is obtained: Equations. Kepler's very important second law depends only on the fact that the force between two bodies is along the line joining them. Newton was thus able to show that all three of Kepler's observationally derived laws follow mathematically from the assumption of his own laws of motion and gravity. In all observations of the motion of a celestial body, only the product of G and the mass can be found. Newton first estimated the magnitude of G by assuming Earth's average mass density to be about 5.5 times that of water (somewhat greater than Earth's surface rock density) and by calculating Earth's mass from this. Then, taking ME and rE as Earth's mass and radius, respectively, the value of G was Equation. which numerically comes close to the accepted value of 6.6743 × 10−11 m3 s−2 kg−1, first directly measured by Henry Cavendish. Comparing equation (5) for Earth's surface acceleration g with the R3/T2 ratio for the planets, a formula for the ratio of the Sun's mass MS to Earth's mass ME was obtained in terms of known quantities, RE being the radius of Earth's orbit: Equation. The motions of the moons of Jupiter (discovered by Galileo) around Jupiter obey Kepler's laws just as the planets do around the Sun. Thus, Newton calculated that Jupiter, with a radius 11 times larger than Earth's, was 318 times more massive than Earth but only 1/4 as dense. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

sycophant

A person who flatters; a yes-man; flatterer

Asphalt

A tar-like material used to pave streets. (Quizlet) asphalt material Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents asphalt, black or brown petroleum-like material that has a consistency varying from viscous liquid to glassy solid. It is obtained either as a residue from the distillation of petroleum or from natural deposits. Asphalt consists of compounds of hydrogen and carbon with minor proportions of nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Natural asphalt (also called brea), which is believed to be formed during an early stage in the breakdown of organic marine deposits into petroleum, characteristically contains minerals, while residual petroleum asphalt does not. asphalt asphalt See all media Related Topics: petroleum bitumen tar sand chapopote natural asphalt See all related content → The use of asphalt is very old, dating back to its use as a water stop between brick walls of a reservoir at Mohenjo-Daro (about the 3rd millennium BC) in Pakistan. In the Middle East it was extensively used for paving roads and sealing waterworks, important applications even today. The Pitch Lake on the island of Trinidad was the first large commercial source, but natural sources have since declined in importance as petroleum became the major source. Gilsonite, wurzilite, and similar vein asphalts have special uses in heat-resistant enamels; they are hard and are mined like coal. Petroleum asphalt is produced in all consistencies from light road oils to heavy, high-viscosity industrial types. More From Britannica Why Are Roads Made of Asphalt? Asphalt softens when heated and is elastic under certain conditions. The mechanical properties of asphalt are of little significance except when it is used as a binder or adhesive. The principal application of asphalt is in road surfacing, which may be done in a variety of ways. Light oil "dust layer" treatments may be built up by repetition to form a hard surface, or a granular aggregate may be added to an asphalt coat, or earth materials from the road surface itself may be mixed with the asphalt. Other important applications include canal and reservoir linings, dam facings, and other harbour and sea works; asphalt so used may be a thin, sprayed membrane, covered with earth for protection against weathering and mechanical damage, or thicker surfaces, often including riprap (crushed rock). Asphalt is also used for roofs, coatings, floor tilings, soundproofing, waterproofing, and other building-construction elements and in a number of industrial products, such as batteries. For certain applications an asphaltic emulsion is prepared, in which fine globules of asphalt are suspended in water. See also bitumen. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. mineral oil Table of Contents Home Technology Industry Chemical Products mineral oil Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Nov 7, 2022 Article History Table of Contents See an experiment to take the candy coating off an M&M by dissolving it in water, alcohol, and mineral oil See an experiment to take the candy coating off an M&M by dissolving it in water, alcohol, and mineral oilSee all videos for this article mineral oil, a clear, colourless, oily liquid that is a by-product of the distillation of petroleum. Mineral oil is used in medicine as a laxative and as an emollient. Given orally, it coats the bowel and softens the stool mass, thus easing the latter's passage. Mineral oil is completely indigestible and is not absorbed by the intestine. Its prolonged use may cause vitamin deficiencies, however, because it carries fat-soluble vitamins out of the digestive system and thus prevents their absorption. The possibility of the accidental inhalation of mineral oil into the lungs, where it causes lipid pneumonia, further limits its usefulness as a laxative. Mineral oil applied to the skin makes the latter softer and more pliable by retaining moisture within the epidermis. Mineral oil also has a variety of minor industrial uses, including use in hair sprays and as a solvent, lubricator, and insulator. Related Topics: petrochemical See all related content → This article was most recently revised and updated by Michele Metych. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

What are some common acronyms?

Acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms, oh my! From text messages to in-person convos, we all use shorthand every day. But is your shortened way of expressing an idea an acronym? It depends on how you say it. Acronyms are formed by using the first letter of each word in a phrase to form a new word. For example, "you only live once" is shortened to the acronym YOLO, which you'd say as "yoh-loh." Common Acronyms in Pop Culture You may not even realize that your favorite TV show, movie character or musician is using an acronym as their name! ABBA (musical group) - Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid (first names of the band's members) BUMP (slang) - Bring Up My Post HER (musician) - Having Everything Revealed NERD (musical group) - No one Ever Really Dies SHIELD (TV show) - Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division WALL-E (animated character) - Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class YAHOO (search engine) - Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle Common Acronyms in Chat Whether you're DMing, texting or chatting in your favorite video game, acronyms are the key to keeping these messages quick and concise. These are the acronyms you probably use or read on the daily. ASAP - As Soon As Possible BAE - Before Anyone Else BOLO - Be On the LookOut FISH - First In, Still Here FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out GIF - Graphics Interchange Format (but is it "jif" or "gif"?) LOL - Laughing Out Loud (some people pronounce this as "lahl") YOLO - You Only Live Once Common Initialisms in Chat There is a bit of debate about whether initialisms are acronyms or if acronyms and initialisms are both just types of abbreviations. An initialism is an abbreviation that uses the first letter of each word in the phrase it's describing (like an acronym), but you still say each letter of the initialism individually (unlike an acronym). For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigations is shortened to FBI, but you say it as "eff-bee-eye," not "fbi." If you're on the team that considers initialisms as a type of acronym, these are some common initialism examples: AFK - Away From Keyboard BBL - Be Back Later BBS - Be Back Soon BEG - Big Evil Grin BRB - Be Right Back BTW - By The Way EG - Evil Grin IDK - I Don't Know IMO - In My Opinion IRL - In Real Life LMK - Let Me Know NOYB - None of Your Business OMG - Oh My God POS - Parents Over Shoulder ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing SMH - Shaking My Head TTYL - Talk To You Later WTH - What The Heck (or Hell) Common Acronyms in the Military and Government Listening to conversations in a government or official settings can be a bit like hearing a new language for the first time. Get in-the-know with common acronyms used in government and military settings. AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Navy SEALs - Navy Sea Air Land forces POTUS - President of the United States SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States SWAT - Special Weapons And Tactics Common Initialisms in the Military and Government You won't often hear these initialisms spoken as new words, even if some appear to spell out a new word. CIA - Central Intelligence Agency CPS - Child Protective Services CSI - Crime Scene Investigation DMV - Division of Motor Vehicles DNC - Democratic National Committee DOD - Department of Defense DON - Department of the Navy DZ - Drop Zone FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation GIB - GI Bill MIA - Missing In Action POW - Prisoner Of War RNC - Republican National Committee REAP - Reserve Education Assistance Program UN - United Nations USAF - United States Air Force Common Informative Acronyms Acronyms are a useful way to convey essential information quickly, but only if you know what they mean. Informative acronyms are commonly used in the medical field but have also crossed over from industries into daily life. AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction (math order of operations) RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging SONAR - Sound Navigation And Ranging ZIP code - Zone Improvement Plan code Common Informative Initialisms These abbreviations help quickly describe useful groups, items and actions. ABS - Anti-lock Braking System ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder AMA - Against Medical Advice CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DOA - Dead On Arrival DOB - Date Of Birth DIY - Do It Yourself ESL - English As A Second Language FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus IQ - Intelligence Quotient MD - Medical Doctor OTC - Over The Counter PPV - Pay Per View PS - Post Script SUV - Sports Utility Vehicle UFO - Unidentified Flying Object Common Informative Acronyms Acronyms are a useful way to convey essential information quickly, but only if you know what they mean. Informative acronyms are commonly used in the medical field but have also crossed over from industries into daily life. AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction (math order of operations) RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging SONAR - Sound Navigation And Ranging ZIP code - Zone Improvement Plan code Common Informative Initialisms These abbreviations help quickly describe useful groups, items and actions. ABS - Anti-lock Braking System ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder AMA - Against Medical Advice CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DOA - Dead On Arrival DOB - Date Of Birth DIY - Do It Yourself ESL - English As A Second Language FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus IQ - Intelligence Quotient MD - Medical Doctor OTC - Over The Counter PPV - Pay Per View PS - Post Script SUV - Sports Utility Vehicle UFO - Unidentified Flying Object Common Acronyms as Identifiers Some acronyms identify an organization or person by shortening a long name into a pronounced acronym. Explore these common identifiers for organizations and dating. FLAG - Foreign Language Association of Georgia MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving PAWS - Progressive Animal Welfare Society PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Common Initialisms and Identifiers Although it's not unheard of for people to pronounce AARP as "arp" these days, these initialisms aren't true acronyms — yet. AA - Alcoholics Anonymous AARP - American Association of Retired Persons ADA - American Dental Association AFL - American Football League AMA - American Medical Association APA - American Psychological Association ESPN - Entertainment and Sports Programming Network LDR - Long Distance Relationship MLA - Modern Language Association MOTOS - Member Of The Opposite Sex MOTSS - Member Of The Same Sex NBA - National Basketball Association NFL - National Football League NHL - National Hockey League PGA - Professional Golfer's Association SPCA - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SO - Significant Other SWF - Single White Female SWM - Single White Male WWE - World Wrestling Entertainment Speak in Shorthand Abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms are all fair game for becoming new words thanks to the anything-goes attitude of today's wordsmiths. Who knows — you might even invent an acronym that becomes commonplace years from now. (Yourdictionary.com)

What are some facts?

Bet you didn't know..... It is impossible for most people to lick their own elbow. (try it!) A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. A shrimp's heart is in its head. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is believed to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language. If you sneeze too hard, you could fracture a rib. Wearing headphones for just an hour could increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. In the course of an average lifetime, while sleeping you might eat around 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders, or more. Some lipsticks contain fish scales. Cat urine glows under a black-light. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing (when using the proper position of the hands on the keyboard; Hunting and pecking doesn't count!). A shark is the only known fish that can blink with both eyes. The longest one-syllable words in the English language are "scraunched" and "strengthed." Some suggest that "squirreled" could be included, but squirrel is intended to be pronounced as two syllables (squir-rel) according to most dictionaries. "Screeched" and "strengths" are two other long one-syllable words, but they only have 9 letters. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". Almonds are a member of the peach family. Maine is the only state that has a one-syllable name. There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. In many advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. Most people fall asleep in seven minutes. Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. (NIH)

Elon Musk

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX founder of paypal (Quizlet) Elon Musk American entrepreneur Actions By Erik Gregersen Last Updated: Dec 14, 2022 Article History Table of Contents Top Questions When was Elon Musk born? Where did Elon Musk go to school? What did Elon Musk accomplish? Elon Musk, (born June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic-payment firm PayPal and formed SpaceX, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was also one of the first significant investors in, as well as chief executive officer of, the electric car manufacturer Tesla. In addition, Musk acquired Twitter in 2022. Elon Musk Elon Musk See all media Born: June 28, 1971 (age 51) Pretoria South Africa Founder: PayPal SpaceX Zip2 See all related content → Early life Musk was born to a South African father and a Canadian mother. He displayed an early talent for computers and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he created a video game and sold it to a computer magazine. In 1988, after obtaining a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa because he was unwilling to support apartheid through compulsory military service and because he sought the greater economic opportunities available in the United States. PayPal and SpaceX Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he received bachelor's degrees in physics and economics in 1997. He enrolled in graduate school in physics at Stanford University in California, but he left after only two days because he felt that the Internet had much more potential to change society than work in physics. In 1995 he founded Zip2, a company that provided maps and business directories to online newspapers. In 1999 Zip2 was bought by the computer manufacturer Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online financial services company, X.com, which later became PayPal, which specialized in transferring money online. The online auction eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Witness the successful launch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, May 25, 2012 Witness the successful launch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, May 25, 2012See all videos for this article Musk was long convinced that for life to survive, humanity has to become a multiplanet species. However, he was dissatisfied with the great expense of rocket launchers. In 2002 he founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to make more affordable rockets. Its first two rockets were the Falcon 1 (first launched in 2006) and the larger Falcon 9 (first launched in 2010), which were designed to cost much less than competing rockets. A third rocket, the Falcon Heavy (first launched in 2018), was designed to carry 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, nearly twice as much as its largest competitor, the Boeing Company's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the cost. SpaceX has announced the successor to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy-Starship system. The Super Heavy first stage would be capable of lifting 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft designed for providing fast transportation between cities on Earth and building bases on the Moon and Mars. SpaceX also developed the Dragon spacecraft, which carries supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Dragon can carry as many as seven astronauts, and it had a crewed flight carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. The first test flights of the Super Heavy-Starship system launched in 2020. In addition to being CEO of SpaceX, Musk was also chief designer in building the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Starship. Tesla Elon Musk Elon Musk Musk had long been interested in the possibilities of electric cars, and in 2004 he became one of the major funders of Tesla Motors (later renamed Tesla), an electric car company founded by entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. In 2006 Tesla introduced its first car, the Roadster, which could travel 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge. Unlike most previous electric vehicles, which Musk thought were stodgy and uninteresting, it was a sports car that could go from 0 to 60 miles (97 km) per hour in less than four seconds. In 2010 the company's initial public offering raised about $226 million. Two years later Tesla introduced the Model S sedan, which was acclaimed by automotive critics for its performance and design. The company won further praise for its Model X luxury SUV, which went on the market in 2015. The Model 3, a less-expensive vehicle, went into production in 2017 and became the best-selling electric car of all time. Dissatisfied with the projected cost ($68 billion) of a high-speed rail system in California, Musk in 2013 proposed an alternate faster system, the Hyperloop, a pneumatic tube in which a pod carrying 28 passengers would travel the 350 miles (560 km) between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes at a top speed of 760 miles (1,220 km) per hour, nearly the speed of sound. Musk claimed that the Hyperloop would cost only $6 billion and that, with the pods departing every two minutes on average, the system could accommodate the six million people who travel that route every year. However, he stated, between running SpaceX and Tesla, he could not devote time to the Hyperloop's development. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Twitter Musk joined the social media service Twitter in 2009, and, as @elonmusk, he became one of the most popular accounts on the site, with more than 85 million followers as of 2022. He expressed reservations about Tesla's being publicly traded, and in August 2018 he made a series of tweets about taking the company private at a value of $420 per share, noting that he had "secured funding." (The value of $420 was seen as a joking reference to April 20, a day celebrated by devotees of cannabis.) The following month the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk for securities fraud, alleging that the tweets were "false and misleading." Shortly thereafter Tesla's board rejected the SEC's proposed settlement, reportedly because Musk had threatened to resign. However, the news sent Tesla stock plummeting, and a harsher deal was ultimately accepted. Its terms included Musk's stepping down as chairman for three years, though he was allowed to continue as CEO; his tweets were to be preapproved by Tesla lawyers, and fines of $20 million for both Tesla and Musk were levied. Musk was critical of Twitter's commitment to principles of free speech, in light of the company's content-moderation policies. Early in April 2022, Twitter's filings with the SEC disclosed that Musk had bought more than 9 percent of the company. Shortly thereafter Twitter announced that Musk would join the company's board, but Musk decided against that and made a bid for the entire company, at a value of $54.20 a share, for $44 billion. Twitter's board accepted the deal, which would make him sole owner of the company. Musk stated that his plans for the company included "enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans." In July 2022 Musk announced that he was withdrawing his bid, stating that Twitter had not provided sufficient information about bot accounts and claiming that the company was in "material breach of multiple provisions" of the purchase agreement. Bret Taylor, the chair of Twitter's board of directors, responded by saying that the company was "committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk." Twitter sued Musk to force him to buy the company. In September 2022, Twitter's shareholders voted to accept Musk's offer. Facing a legal battle, Musk ultimately proceeded with the deal, and it was completed in October. Erik Gregersen Jeff Bezos Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government Businesspeople & Entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos American entrepreneur Actions Alternate titles: Jeffrey Preston Bezos By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Top Questions Who is Jeff Bezos? How did Jeff Bezos start Amazon? Where was Jeff Bezos born? Was Jeff Bezos born rich? What was Jeff Bezos's first job? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Jeff Bezos , byname of Jeffrey Preston Bezos, (born January 12, 1964, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.), American entrepreneur who played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, Inc., an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products. Under his guidance, Amazon became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and the model for Internet sales. Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos See all media Born: January 12, 1964 (age 58) Albuquerque New Mexico Founder: Amazon.com Blue Origin Notable Family Members: son of Miguel ("Mike") Bezos son of Jacklyn ("Jackie") Bezos son of Ted Jorgensen married to Mackenzie Scott (1993-2019) brother of Mark Bezos brother of Christina Bezos See all related content → Early life and career Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos While still in high school, Bezos developed the Dream Institute, a centre that promoted creative thinking in young students. After graduating (1986) summa cum laude from Princeton University with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, he undertook a series of jobs before joining the New York investment bank D.E. Shaw & Co. in 1990. Soon named senior vice president—the firm's youngest—Bezos was in charge of examining the investment possibilities of the Internet. Its enormous potential—Web usage was growing by more than 2,000 percent a year—sparked his entrepreneurial imagination. In 1994 he quit D.E. Shaw and moved to Seattle, Washington, to open a virtual bookstore. Working out of his garage with a handful of employees, Bezos began developing the software for the site. Named after the South American river, Amazon sold its first book in July 1995. Amazon.com Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos Amazon quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Open 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly, encouraging browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. Amazon diversified even further in 2006 by introducing Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud-computing service that eventually became the largest such service in the world. In late 2007 Amazon released a new handheld reading device called the Kindle, a digital book reader with wireless Internet connectivity, enabling customers to purchase, download, read, and store a vast selection of books on demand. Amazon announced in 2010 that sales of Kindle books had surpassed those of hardcover books. That same year Amazon moved into making its own television shows and movies with its Amazon Studios division. Amazon's yearly net sales increased from $510,000 in 1995 to some $600 million in 1998 and from more than $19.1 billion in 2008 to almost $233 billion in 2018. About half of the company's operating income in 2018 was derived from AWS. Two years later Amazon registered record profits, and its revenue in the fourth quarter that year surpassed $100 billion for the first time. The unprecedented numbers were, in part, caused by a rise in home shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021 Bezos announced that he would be stepping down as CEO later that year. However, he planned to remain at Amazon as executive chairman. Other activities Aside from Amazon, Bezos founded a spaceflight company, Blue Origin, in 2000. Blue Origin bought a launch site in Texas soon thereafter and planned to introduce a crewed suborbital spacecraft, New Shepard, in 2018 and an orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, in 2020. Bezos bought The Washington Post and affiliated publications for $250 million in 2013. Bezos's net worth was calculated in 2018 at $112 billion, making him the richest person in the world. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Personal life In 1993 Bezos married Mackenzie Tuttle, whom he had met at D.E. Shaw. The couple announced in January 2019 that they were divorcing, and the following day the National Enquirer printed a story revealing that Bezos was having an affair with another woman. Bezos subsequently launched an investigation into how the tabloid had obtained his private text messages. Then, in February, he posted a lengthy essay online in which he accused officials at American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the Enquirer, of "extortion and bribery" for suggesting that they would release nude photographs of Bezos if he did not stop his inquiry, amid other demands. The Bezos-led investigation later alleged that his lover's brother had leaked the texts. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

Can computers make the right choice?

Computers are good at making a lot of decisions quickly and tirelessly, but nothing guarantees that they will make the right decision. That is up to us humans. (Brilliant)

putrefaction

Decomposition of body tissues; a definitive sign of death. decomposition of proteins by the action of enzymes from anaerobic bacteria

What are some evidence based health tips?

NUTRITION Evidence Based 27 Health and Nutrition Tips That Are Actually Evidence-Based By Kris Gunnars, BSc — Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Nutrition — Updated on March 10, 2022 It's easy to get confused when it comes to health and nutrition. Even qualified experts often seem to hold opposing opinions, which can make it difficult to figure out what you should actually be doing to optimize your health. Yet, despite all the disagreements, a number of wellness tips are well supported by research. Here are 27 health and nutrition tips that are based on scientific evidence. Share on Pinterest Guille Faingold/Stocksy United 1. Limit sugary drinks Sugary drinks like sodas, fruit juices, and sweetened teas are the primary source of added sugar in the American diet (1Trusted Source). Unfortunately, findings from several studies point to sugar-sweetened beverages increasing risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, even in people who are not carrying excess body fat (2Trusted Source). Sugar-sweetened beverages are also uniquely harmful for children, as they can contribute not only to obesity in children but also to conditions that usually do not develop until adulthood, like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source). Healthier alternatives include: water unsweetened teas sparkling water coffee 2. Eat nuts and seeds Some people avoid nuts because they are high in fat. However, nuts and seeds are incredibly nutritious. They are packed with protein, fiber, and a variety of vitamins and minerals (6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source). Nuts may help you lose weight and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease (8Trusted Source). Additionally, one large observational study noted that a low intake of nuts and seeds was potentially linked to an increased risk of death from heart disease, stroke, or type 2 diabetes (9Trusted Source). FEATURED Diabetes-Friendly Chicken Recipe Follow along as a registered dietitian prepares a delicious diabetes friendly air fried chicken cutlet! Stay until the end for the recipe card. WATCH NOW 3. Avoid ultra-processed foods Ultra-processed foods are foods containing ingredients that are significantly modified from their original form. They often contain additives like added sugar, highly refined oil, salt, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors as well (10Trusted Source). Examples include: snack cakes fast food frozen meals canned foods chips Ultra-processed foods are highly palatable, meaning they are easily overeaten, and activate reward-related regions in the brain, which can lead to excess calorie consumption and weight gain. Studies show that diets high in ultra-processed food can contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source). In addition to low quality ingredients like inflammatory fats, added sugar, and refined grains, they're usually low in fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Thus, they provide mostly empty calories. 4. Don't fear coffee Despite some controversy over it, coffee is loaded with health benefits. It's rich in antioxidants, and some studies have linked coffee intake to longevity and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and numerous other illnesses (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source). The most beneficial intake amount appears to be 3-4 cups per day, although pregnant people should limit or avoid it completely because it has been linked to low birth weight (18Trusted Source). However, it's best to consume coffee and any caffeine-based items in moderation. Excessive caffeine intake may lead to health issues like insomnia and heart palpitations. To enjoy coffee in a safe and healthy way, keep your intake to less than 4 cups per day and avoid high-calorie, high-sugar additives like sweetened creamer. 5. Eat fatty fish Fish is a great source of high-quality protein and healthy fat. This is particularly true of fatty fish, such as salmon, which is loaded with anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids and various other nutrients (20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source). Studies show that people who eat fish regularly have a lower risk for several conditions, including heart disease, dementia, and inflammatory bowel disease (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source). 6. Get enough sleep The importance of getting enough quality sleep cannot be overstated. Poor sleep can drive insulin resistance, can disrupt your appetite hormones, and reduce your physical and mental performance (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source). What's more, poor sleep is one of the strongest individual risk factors for weight gain and obesity. People who do not get enough sleep tend to make food choices that are higher in fat, sugar, and calories, potentially leading to unwanted weight gain (28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source). RELATED VIDEOS Proven Health Benefits of Ashwagandha 0 seconds of 1 minute, 7 seconds 1:07 Proven Health Benefits of Ashwagandha 7:08 Fresh Food Fast: Cold Soba Noodles 6:51 Fresh Food Fast: Cardamom-Spiced Peach and... 5:49 Fresh Food Fast: Simple Citrus Salad 6:56 Fresh Food Fast: Turkey Pumpkin Chili 6:44 Fresh Food Fast: Shawarma-Spiced Chicken 4:37 Fresh Food Fast: Make It-Your-Own Green Smoothie 7:11 Fresh Food Fast: Crispy Salmon with Scallion Rice... 6:18 Fresh Food Fast: Chickpea Tomato Salad 0:59 How Much Water Should You Drink Per Day? 1:03 Full Body Detox: 5 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body Watch More 7. Feed your gut bacteria The bacteria in your gut, collectively called the gut microbiota, are incredibly important for overall health. A disruption in gut bacteria is linked to some chronic diseases, including obesity and a myriad of digestive problems (30Trusted Source, 31Trusted Source). Good ways to improve gut health include eating probiotic foods like yogurt and sauerkraut, taking probiotic supplements — when indicated — and eating plenty of fiber. Notably, fiber serves as a prebiotic, or a food source for your gut bacteria (32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source). 8. Stay hydrated Hydration is an important and often overlooked marker of health. Staying hydrated helps ensure that your body is functioning optimally and that your blood volume is sufficient (34Trusted Source). Drinking water is the best way to stay hydrated, as it's free of calories, sugar, and additives. Although there's no set amount that everyone needs per day, aim to drink enough so that your thirst is adequately quenched (35Trusted Source). 9. Don't eat heavily charred meats Meat can be a nutritious and healthy part of your diet. It's very high in protein and a rich source of nutrients (36Trusted Source). However, problems occur when meat is charred or burnt. This charring can lead to the formation of harmful compounds that may increase your risk for certain cancers (37Trusted Source). When you cook meat, try not to char or burn it. Additionally limit your consumption of red and processed meats like lunch meats and bacon as these are linked to overall cancer risk and colon cancer risk (38Trusted Source, 39Trusted Source, 40Trusted Source, 41Trusted Source). 10. Avoid bright lights before sleep When you're exposed to bright lights — which contain blue light wavelengths — in the evening, it may disrupt your production of the sleep hormone melatonin (42Trusted Source). Some ways to help reduce your blue light exposure is to wear blue light blocking glasses — especially if you use a computer or other digital screen for long periods of time — and to avoid digital screens for 30 minutes to an hour before going to bed (43Trusted Source). This can help your body better produce melatonin naturally as evening progresses, helping you sleep better. 11. Take vitamin D if you're deficient Most people do not get enough vitamin D. While these widespread vitamin D inadequacies are not imminently harmful, maintaining adequate vitamin D levels can help to optimize your health by improving bone strength, reducing symptoms of depression, strengthening your immune system, and lowering your risk for cancer (44Trusted Source, 45Trusted Source, 46Trusted Source, 47Trusted Source). If you do not spend a lot of time in the sunlight, your vitamin D levels may be low. If you have access, it's a great idea to have your levels tested, so that you can correct your levels through vitamin D supplementation if necessary. 12. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables Vegetables and fruits are loaded with prebiotic fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, many of which have potent health effects. Studies show that people who eat more vegetables and fruits tend to live longer and have a lower risk for heart disease, obesity, and other illnesses (48Trusted Source, 49Trusted Source). 13. Eat adequate protein Eating enough protein is vital for optimal health, as it provides the raw materials your body needs to create new cells and tissues (50Trusted Source). What's more, this nutrient is particularly important for maintenance of a moderate body weight. High protein intake may boost your metabolic rate — or calorie burn — while making you feel full. It may also reduce cravings and your desire to snack late at night (51Trusted Source, 52Trusted Source). 14. Get moving Doing aerobic exercise, or cardio, is one of the best things you can do for your mental and physical health. It's particularly effective at reducing belly fat, the harmful type of fat that builds up around your organs. Reduced belly fat may lead to major improvements in your metabolic health (53Trusted Source). According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, we should strive for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity each week (54Trusted Source). 15. Don't smoke or use drugs, and only drink in moderation Smoking, harmful use of drugs, and alcohol abuse can all seriously negatively affect your health. If you do any of these actions, consider cutting back or quitting to help reduce your risk for chronic diseases. There are resources available online — and likely in your local community, as well — to help with this. Talk with your doctor to learn more about accessing resources. 16. Use extra virgin olive oil Extra virgin olive oil is one of the healthiest vegetable oils you can use. It's loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and powerful antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory properties (55Trusted Source, 56Trusted Source). Extra virgin olive oil may benefit heart health, as people who consume it have a lower risk for dying from heart attacks and strokes according to some evidence (57Trusted Source). 17. Minimize your sugar intake Added sugar is extremely prevalent in modern food and drinks. A high intake is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source, 58Trusted Source). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend keeping added sugar intake below 10% of your daily calorie intake, while the World Health Organization recommends slashing added sugars to 5% or less of your daily calories for optimal health (59Trusted Source, 60Trusted Source). 18. Limit refined carbs Not all carbs are created equal. Refined carbs have been highly processed to remove their fiber. They're relatively low in nutrients and may harm your health when eaten in excess. Most ultra-processed foods are made from refined carbs, like processed corn, white flour, and added sugars. Studies show that a diet high in refined carbs may be linked to overeating, weight gain, and chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease (61Trusted Source, 62Trusted Source, 63Trusted Source, 64Trusted Source). 19. Lift heavy weights Strength and resistance training are some of the best forms of exercises you can do to strengthen your muscles and improve your body composition. It may also lead to important improvements in metabolic health, including improved insulin sensitivity — meaning your blood sugar levels are easier to manage — and increases in your metabolic rate, or how many calories you burn at rest (65Trusted Source, 66Trusted Source). If you do not have weights, you can use your own bodyweight or resistance bands to create resistance and get a comparable workout with many of the same benefits. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends resistance training twice per week (67Trusted Source). 20. Avoid artificial trans fats Artificial trans fats are harmful, man-made fats that are strongly linked to inflammation and heart disease (68Trusted Source). Avoiding them should be much easier now that they have been completely banned in the United States and many other countries. Note that you may still encounter some foods that contain small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats, but these are not associated with the same negative effects as artificial trans fats (69Trusted Source). 21. Use plenty of herbs and spices There is a variety of herbs and spices at our disposal these days, more so than ever. They not only provide flavor but also may offer several health benefits as well (70Trusted Source). For example, ginger and turmeric both have potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which may help improve your overall health (71Trusted Source, 72Trusted Source). Due to their powerful potential health benefits, you should aim to include a wide variety of herbs and spices in your diet. 22. Nurture your social relationships Social relationships — with friends, family, and loved ones you care about — are important not only for your mental well-being but also your physical health. Studies show that people who have close friends and family are healthier and live much longer than those who do not (73Trusted Source, 74Trusted Source). 23. Occasionally track your food intake The only way to know exactly how many calories you eat is to weigh your food and use a nutrition tracker, as estimating your portion sizes and calorie intake is not unreliable (75Trusted Source, 76Trusted Source). Tracking can also provide insights into your protein, fiber, and micronutrient intake. Though some studies have found a link between tracking calories and disordered eating tendencies, there is some evidence that suggests that people who track their food intake tend to be more successful at losing weight and maintaining their weight loss (74Trusted Source, 77Trusted Source, 78Trusted Source, 79Trusted Source). 24. Get rid of excess belly fat Excessive abdominal fat, or visceral fat, is a uniquely harmful type of fat distribution that is linked to an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease (80Trusted Source). For this reason, your waist size and waist-to-hip ratio may be much stronger markers of health than your weight. Cutting refined carbs, eating more protein and fiber, and reducing stress (which can reduce cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers abdominal fat deposition) are all strategies that may help you get rid of belly fat (81Trusted Source, 82Trusted Source, 83Trusted Source, 84Trusted Source). 25. Avoid restrictive diets Diets are generally ineffective and rarely work well long term. In fact, past dieting is one of the strongest predictors for future weight gain (85Trusted Source). This is because overly restrictive diets actually lower your metabolic rate, or the amount of calories you burn, making it more difficult to lose weight. At the same time, they also cause alterations to your hunger and satiety hormones, which make you hungrier and may cause strong food cravings for foods high in fat, calories, and sugar (86Trusted Source, 87Trusted Source). All of this is a recipe for rebound weight gain, or "yoyo" dieting. Instead of dieting, try adopting a healthier lifestyle. Focus on nourishing your body instead of depriving it. Weight loss should follow as you transition to whole, nutritious foods — which are naturally more filling while containing fewer calories than processed foods (14Trusted Source). 26. Eat whole eggs Despite the constant back and forth about eggs and health, it's a myth that eggs are bad for you because of their cholesterol content. Studies show that they have minimal effect on blood cholesterol in the majority of people, and they're a great source of protein and nutrients (87Trusted Source, 88Trusted Source). Additionally, a review involving 263,938 people found that egg intake had no association with heart disease risk (88Trusted Source). 27. Meditate Stress has a negative effect on your health. It can affect your blood sugar levels, food choices, susceptibility to sickness, weight, fat distribution, and more. For this reason, it's important to find healthy ways to manage your stress. Meditation is one such way, and it has some scientific evidence to support its use for stress management and improving health (89Trusted Source, 90Trusted Source). In one study involving 48 people with high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or both, researchers found that meditation helped lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and inflammation compared with the control group. Additionally, the participants in the meditation group reported improved mental and physical wellness (91Trusted Source). The bottom line A few simple steps can go a long way toward improving your eating patterns and wellness. Still, if you're trying to live a healthier life, do not just focus on the foods you eat. Exercise, sleep, and social relationships are also important. With the evidence-based tips above, it's easy to introduce small changes that can have a big impact on your overall health. Just one thing Try this today: There are lots of suggestions on this list that can help you improve your health, but it's best to put just one or two into practice at a time so you do not get burned out. As more of these healthy actions become habits, you can add more into your routine. Last medically reviewed on July 2, 2021 (Healthline)

click

Pressing the left mouse button and releasing it quickly

What is the largest organ in the body?

Skin (integumentary system) (Quiz let) The skin The skin is the body's largest organ. (NIH)

Klick

Slang term for kilometer

Is gaming calming?

Soothing game Everything has been described as 'joyfully expansive' By Kate Spicer 13th April 2020 The new 'gentle' video games are absorbing, beautiful and silly - and, says Kate Spicer, they can help keep us calm in a crisis. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT O Outside my window the streets are quiet, the world is weird, the future uncertain. Conspiracy theorists are bombarding my social media feed, and everyone is an armchair expert on the pandemic. But for now I am okay, because I am a moose. The game called Everything has been out for a while now. Occasionally I click on a thought bubble and the counterculture philosopher Alan Watts tells me something; sometimes I cease to be a moose and choose to be a solar system or a single-cell organism instead. I move around this game of infinite possibility, not doing much, occasionally communicating with other things with barks or tinkles. I've never been much of a gamer, but in recent weeks Everything - and its sister game, Mountain (equally pointless, if not more so) - have been, well, everything to me. Absorbing, still, deep, silly, beautiful, with a chorus of odd but satisfying sounds - both have calmed me and made me forget the lunacy and drama of life online and in lockdown. More like this: - Isolation inspiration - Culture in quarantine - What makes a cult classic? Everything was a game that divided the gamer community when it came out: 'Joyfully expansive' or 'garbage'. For someone like me, though, it was an escape from the turbulence of work pressure and paranoia into an exquisite form of boredom. I gave it to my nephew and niece. They told me, sagely, more experienced in these things: "It's for relaxing before bedtime because it doesn't make you excited." When the programmer Brie Code wrote a manifesto for her new games company, Tru Luv, she could not have known quite how presciently one line would describe our lives today. "We gaze with horrified fascination into our phones, we are all overwhelmed with shock..." Her goal for the Toronto-based business was to create games that are an antidote to the adrenalised, goal-driven, fight-or-flight content that has dominated the gaming industry since its genesis 50 years ago. Provocatively, she says: "The multitudes of white masculine gamers who dominate the games industry have made experiences that are relevant to them but not to most people." In 2018, Tru Luv's first game hit the market, a phone app called #selfcare. In it the 'player' is stuck in bed interacting with various rituals designed to de-stress. #selfcare looked and felt like a game but it went, really, nowhere. There are no monsters to kill, only cats to stroke, and simple but satisfying tasks to complete. The game #selfcare, created by Tru Luv, is an antidote to adrenalised gaming content The game #selfcare, created by Tru Luv, is an antidote to adrenalised gaming content "Rumpled to smooth, tangled to loose, messy to tidy. We designed an app that was a calm space to escape to inside your phone," says Tru Luv's Eve Thomas. "The way to keep people at that sweet spot of engagement has been the same. Social media, gambling, games - they all follow a design card of rising tension so that the stress response is triggered. Life is stressful enough. Yet we turn to our phones or tech to escape and find more of the same." SoundSelf takes the player on an 'inward journey' that will instil a deeper quality of stillness - Robin Arnott Video games are already huge business. According to the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the games industry in the UK was more valuable than the music and film industry combined in 2019. When the lockdown started in March, the gaming platform Steam reported its highest ever number of concurrent users logged on at once. But when life is a fight-or-flight nightmare, aren't these computer games a bit of a busman's holiday? Code says the stress imperative in so many games and online activities is off-putting: "Capitalising on fear by continuing to make games that drive this fear is a short-term strategy. Agitating young men's fear makes money. It's the coward's choice, and it's a boring choice. We don't need artificial stress to create engaging experiences. Love and insight can create nourishing and compelling experiences." The creators of SoundSelf aim to guide a person into a 'state of transcendence' The creators of SoundSelf aim to guide a person into a 'state of transcendence' Code spent the first eight years of her career working as a high-level programmer in the mainstream gaming industry, latterly at Ubisoft, a French video game company with 16,000 employees worldwide. Code directed blockbuster games like Assassin's Creed, and was successful, but something bugged her about gaming. "With fight-or-flight, your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and releases adrenaline followed by dopamine. If you like games like this, it's probably because adrenaline and dopamine are very enjoyable. Pupils dilate, your heart beats faster, your airways open up, and you feel exhilarated. You feel alive. You feel powerful. But not everyone likes these kinds of games. I don't. My friends don't." Inward journey Andromeda Entertainment's SoundSelf is launching later this month. Eight years in the making by company founder, Robin Arnott, the game tracks the experience of religious ceremonies, psychedelics, chanting, meditation and hypnosis. SoundSelf takes the player, he says, "on an 'inward journey' that will instil a deeper quality of stillness. I saw how games could guide a person into a state of transcendence. You only have to look at kids staring blankly at screens to see how entrancing the medium is - it's just that generally the trance is used to engender one very narrow band of psychological states, when we can use it to catalyse anything a human is capable of feeling. For half a century, the industry has created one kind of game for one kind of person. Why is it that 90% target cortisol (stress) response?" Animal Crossing features calming, gentle music and serene water sounds Animal Crossing features calming, gentle music and serene water sounds There are of course exceptions to the fight-or-flight imperative in gaming, and they are not unsuccessful. There are the gentle world-building games, where players escape into alternative realities of their own creation like The Sims and Minecraft. The simulation game Animal Crossing has players as a solitary human on an island full of cute, saucer-eyed animals. All there is to do is bumble about, fishing, chopping wood, finding Easter eggs and picking fruit. Its latest issue, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, came out towards the end of March, around the time much of the world went into lockdown, and swiftly outsold all previous iterations of the game, five since it launched in 2001. The New York Times called it "the Game for the Coronavirus Moment". And it wasn't kids playing it. Rhianna Pratchett is an award-winning writer of the narrative element of games. "Animal Crossing is big on my Twitter feed, so many people are playing it," she tells BBC Culture. "It came at just the right time, it has calming, gentle music, the sound of waves breaking on the shore. It's serene, peaceful, creative and addictive." She namechecks another slow and gentle simulation game, Stardew Valley. "It's just farming and visiting neighbours." But it was a game so massive that Elon Musk had it programmed into the monitors of his Tesla cars, prompting images of sleek executives harvesting parsnips while they wait for their car to charge. Lost Words Beyond the Page is an artful puzzle and fantasy game, created by Rhianna Pratchett Lost Words Beyond the Page is an artful puzzle and fantasy game, created by Rhianna Pratchett Slow, calm gaming isn't radical or new, but, says Pratchett, "because of the way games are reported by the mainstream media, it's a very samey narrative; the entire industry is demonised like rock 'n' roll, video nasties and, indeed, the novel were. For the last five or so years the independent games companies have been thriving, and because they have no shareholders they've been creating all kinds of smaller games with far more emotional and reflective narratives." Pratchett's latest project, Lost Words: Beyond the Page, is a painterly puzzle and fantasy game, "about a girl who writes stories to escape stress in her real life. I wrote it around the seven stages of grief. It's not super-hard, again it's soothing, it's gentle, it's beautiful." Pratchett, controversially for some, reinvented Tomb Raider's Lara Croft for a more sensitive generation. "I made her a bit more human. Gave her vulnerability and a backstory. She gets upset at killing a deer; is traumatised when she takes a human life. I allowed her to show emotion." Pratchett got, she says, "some pushback at the time by people who felt [Lara] shedding tears - because people are dying - was a weakness." With 20 years writing for and about the gaming industry, Pratchett says she isn't against the "exciting and adrenalised" big-selling games. "I like playing them, they hit different spots in my brain. They do seem to skew towards men but many women do enjoy them, and it's a myth to say women don't." Soothing game Everything has been described as 'joyfully expansive' Soothing game Everything has been described as 'joyfully expansive' She says she enjoys many different types of games, from the nastiest to the sweetest, but one thing she has always liked, "is going off on side missions. Like in Far Cry 4, which is set in Tibet, when you can [unlock] elephants and just go trundling through this lush valley. In Assassin's Creed there are cats you can pet. In some games you can just find a beautiful high spot where you can sit and chill out and look at the view. There's always been that content. There's a Twitter account called 'Can You Pet the Dog'." Both Everything and Mountain are intentionally, absolutely, beautifully pointless - David O'Reilly Everything and Mountain were created by an Irish artist and animator called David O'Reilly, who lives in East LA with his cat, Bel. "They exist in the game category, but do they fill every version of the word 'game'? For some, the word 'game' implies goal, and both Everything and Mountain are intentionally, absolutely, beautifully pointless." He compares his 'games' to the difference between pop music and ambient music; Kylie and Brian Eno. He doesn't have a problem with big commercial games, and he likes newcomers Dreams and Knights and Bikes for the quality of their "textured worlds". "What I always really liked in games were the things the audience don't notice: the background things, the changing weather, or how the trees, grass and water are described. Sometimes I'd kill all the monsters and then just explore the place. I prefer to think of it in terms of play. In a game, you have to do something. With play, there's no point to it, you can't fail." If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. AdChoices / Do Not Sell My Info Copyright © 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. (BBC)

What should I know about writing a computer program?

Writing a program is about getting the computer to execute a series of instructions. A program is a set of instructions for the computer to execute. (Brilliant)

wiry

adj. Thin, but tough and sinewy.

Ostensibly

supposedly; purportedly; allegedly, put perhaps not actually

ad nauseam

to a sickening or disgusting degree

abhor

to regard with horror or loathing; to hate deeply regard with disgust and hatred

fact

A statement that can be proved. the confirmation or validation of an event or object (Quizlet) information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article. A thing that is known or proved to be true. (Online defs)

Can I find reliable health information online?

Where can I find reliable health information online? Questions to ask before trusting a website Health and medical apps Social media and health information Trust yourself and talk to your doctor Many older adults share a common concern: "Can I trust the health information I find online?" There are thousands of medical websites. Some provide up-to-date medical news and reliable health information, and some do not. Choosing trustworthy websites is an important step in gathering reliable health information. Where can I find reliable health information online? 2 older men looking for health information online The National Institutes of Health website is a good place to start for reliable health information. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is another one. As a rule, health websites sponsored by federal government agencies are accurate sources of information. You can reach all federal websites by visiting www.usa.gov. Medical and health care organizations, hospitals, and academic medical institutions may also be reliable sources of health information. Your health care provider can also suggest ideal sources of online information. If your doctor's office has a website, it may include a list of recommended links. MedlinePlus.gov MedlinePlus.gov is a website from the NIH National Library of Medicine that has dependable consumer health information on more than 1,000 health-related topics. Use its online tutorial to learn how to evaluate health information online. Questions to ask before trusting a website Searching online, you will likely find websites for multiple health organizations, including many you may not recognize. The following questions can help determine which ones are trustworthy. Many of the answers can often be found in a website's "About Us" section. 1. What is the purpose of the website, and who owns or sponsors it? Why was the site created? Is the purpose of the site to inform or explain, or is it trying to sell a product or service? Understanding the motive of the website can help you better judge its content. The goal of any trustworthy health information website is to provide accurate, current, and useful information versus trying to make a sale. Knowing who pays for a website may provide you with insight into the mission or goal of the site. For example, if a business pays for the site, the health information may favor that business and its products. Sometimes, the website address (called a URL) is helpful for identifying the type of agency or organization that owns the site. For example: .gov identifies a U.S. government agency .edu identifies an educational institution, such as a school, college, or university .org usually identifies nonprofit organizations, such as medical or research societies and advocacy groups .com identifies commercial websites, such as businesses and pharmaceutical companies While many commercial websites do provide accurate, useful health information, it can be hard to distinguish this content from marketing and promotional materials in some cases. Any advertisements on a site should be clearly marked as such. Watch out for ads designed to look like neutral health information. 2. Who wrote the information? Who reviewed it? Website pages often, but not always, identify the authors and contributors. If the author is listed, are they an expert in the field? Look for health care professionals or scientific researchers with in-depth knowledge of the topic. Does the author work for an organization and, if so, what are the goals of that organization? A contributor's connection to the website, and any financial stake they have regarding the information on the website, should be made clear. If the material is not authored by an expert, has the information been reviewed by a health care professional or other credentialed specialist? Dependable health information websites will share sources and citations. Trustworthy websites will also have contact information — an email address, phone number, and/or mailing address — that you can use to reach the site's sponsor. Look for this information at the bottom of web pages or in a separate "About Us" or "Contact Us" page. Be cautious about testimonials, individual blogs, and posts on discussion boards. Personal stories may be helpful and comforting, but not everyone experiences health problems the same way. Also, there is a big difference between information written by a single person interested in a topic and a website developed by professionals using researched and peer-reviewed scientific evidence. No online information, even if it is accurate and trustworthy, should replace seeing a health care professional who can thoroughly evaluate your unique situation and provide specific advice. 3. When was the information written and updated? Look for websites that stay current with their health information. You don't want to make decisions about your care based on out-of-date content. Often, the date the information was created and reviewed or updated will appear at the bottom of the page. Pages on the same site may be updated at different times, and some may be updated more often than others. Older information isn't useless, but using the most current, evidence-based information is ideal. 4. Is your privacy protected? Does the website clearly state a privacy policy? Read the website's privacy policy. It is usually at the bottom of the page or on a separate page titled "Privacy Policy" or "Our Policies." If a website says it uses "cookies," your information may not be private. Cookies are small text files that enable a website to collect and remember information about your visit. While cookies may enhance your web experience, they can also compromise your online privacy, so it is important to read about the information the website collects and how the organization will use it. Many websites will ask you ahead of time if you want to accept cookies, but others may not. If you are concerned about the potential use of information gathered by cookies, you can choose to disable the use of cookies through your internet browser settings. 5. How can I protect my health information? If you are asked to share personal information, be sure to find out how the information will be used. Secure websites that collect personal information responsibly have an "s" after "http" in the start of their website addresses (https://) and often require that you create a username and password. Be careful about sharing your Social Security number. Find out why your number is needed, how it will be used, and what will happen if you do not share this information. Only enter your Social Security number on secure websites. You might consider calling your doctor's office or health insurance company to give this information over the phone rather than providing it online. Taking these precautions may help protect your information: Beware of health fraud scams and pay attention when browsing the internet. Do not open unexpected links. Hover your mouse over a link to confirm that clicking it will take you to a reputable website. Always use a strong password. Include a variation of numbers, letters, and symbols. Some websites may allow you to use a phrase as well. Create a unique password for each website and change it frequently. Use two-factor authentication when you can. This security feature requires the use of two different types of personal information to log into your mobile devices or accounts. Don't enter sensitive information over public Wi-Fi. Learn about how to safely use public Wi-Fi networks. Be careful about the information you share through social media sites. For example, don't share personal information, such as where you live or your contact information, on a public channel. Report Elder Fraud Older adults are often the target of online scammers. One reason is that older people are less likely to report suspected fraud. If you believe an older adult in your life has been the target of a scam, contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311. 6. Does the website offer quick and easy solutions to your health problems? Does it promise miracle cures? Be cautious about websites claiming any single remedy will cure many different illnesses. Also be wary of sites suggesting simple or unproven treatments for a disease. Question dramatic writing or promises of cures that seem too good to be true and look for other websites with the same information. Even if a website links to a trustworthy source, it doesn't mean that the site has the other organization's endorsement or support. Checklist: Finding Reliable Health Information Online Use the following checklist to help ensure the health information you are reading online can be trusted. You might want to keep this checklist by your computer. Why was the site created? Is the mission or goal of the website owner or sponsor made clear? Is the website owner or sponsor a federal agency, medical school, hospital, or large professional or nonprofit organization, or is it related to one of these? Is the website written by a medical or scientific professional or does it reference one of the trustworthy sources mentioned above for its health information? Does the site offer contact information? When was the information written and last updated? Is your privacy protected? Is the website secure? Does the website offer quick and easy solutions to resolving health problems? Health and medical apps Mobile medical applications ("apps") are a type of software you can install and run on your smartphone. Medical apps can support your health in many ways. For example, they can help track your eating habits or physical activity, access test results from a lab, or monitor a health condition. They can also provide helpful reminders to exercise or take medications. But anyone can develop a health app — for any reason — and apps may include inaccurate or misleading information. Before you download or use an app, make sure you know who produced it. When you download an app, it may ask for your location, your email, or other personal information. Apps may also collect data about you as you use them. Ensure the information collected is relevant to the app, you know how the information will be used, and you feel comfortable sharing this information. Responsible app developers will make this information readily available before you download it. Social media, health news, and health books Social media websites and apps are online communities through which people can connect with friends, family, and strangers. Social media is one way people share health information and news stories with each other. Some of this information may be true, but too often some of it is not. Recognize that just because a post is from a friend or colleague, it does not necessarily mean that the information is accurate, complete, or applicable to your health. Check the source of the information, and make sure the original author is credible. Fact-checking websites can also help you determine if a story is reliable. Evaluating health information in books is similar to finding reliable information on websites or on social media. Make sure to check who wrote the book, how current the information is, and where the content came from. When in doubt, ask your health care provider about what you read. Trust yourself and talk with your doctor Use your good judgment when gathering health information online. There are websites on nearly every health topic, and many have no rules for overseeing the quality of the information provided. Use the information you find online as one tool to become more informed. Don't count on any one website and check your sources. Discuss what you find with your doctor before making any changes to your health care. Read about this topic in Spanish. Lea sobre este tema en español. For more information about reliable health information websites Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 800-232-4636 888-232-6348 (TTY) [email protected] www.cdc.gov MedlinePlus National Library of Medicine www.medlineplus.gov Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) 240-453-8280 [email protected] https://health.gov/ USA.gov 844-872-4681 www.usa.gov This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date. Content reviewed: January 12, 2023 (NIH)

what does it mean when someone has no personality?

(If someone says we have no personality, we typically understand that we have not been paid a compliment. In common usage, it has neutral to negative connotations and seems to describe a person with an absence of interesting or noteworthy qualities.) Abstract The current study aimed to discover the meaning behind the common person descriptions "no personality" and "a lot of personality." Participants provided narrative descriptions of both terms and rated the personalities of two fictional characters, one with "no personality" and one with "a lot of personality," how much they liked each character, how central each character was in their story, and confidence in their ratings. Qualitative analysis found that four domains described "no personality" and eight described "a lot of personality." Characters with a lot of personality were more liked, higher in extraversion, agreeableness, and openness, and less likely to be incidental characters. Finally, participants were less confident in their ratings for extraversion, openness, and agreeableness for "no personality." Introduction A great deal of research in personality psychology has been devoted to understanding how we perceive others' personalities. However, one concept that has not yet been explored is how we develop judgments about the amount of personality we believe a person has. In everyday language, we often describe people as having "no personality" or "a lot of personality." These terms seem to communicate important social information and have the potential to influence how or whether we interact with a person, but exactly what information do these descriptions convey? If someone says we have no personality, we typically understand that we have not been paid a compliment. In common usage, it has neutral to negative connotations and seems to describe a person with an absence of interesting or noteworthy qualities. However, it is less clear whether having "a lot of personality" is considered to be a good thing or a bad thing. We might just as easily picture someone who is energetic and fun, or obnoxious and difficult. Determining how people arrive at judgments of someone's amount of personality and how different amounts of personality correspond to personality traits may provide an interesting complement to existing research on person perception. The goal of this largely exploratory study was to provide an initial investigation into how we describe the amount of people's personalities. Although no research to date has explored which specific characteristics are invoked when a person is said to have a lack of personality or a big personality, we briefly review potential ways that work in four areas of person perception—observability, judgability, evaluativeness, and acquaintanceship—which might point to how we quantify personality in others. A major area of research in person perception has to do with trait observability, or the idea that certain personality traits are more outwardly visible than others, and that we can more accurately judge these traits in others than those that are less observable (e.g., Funder, 1980, Funder and Colvin, 1988, Funder and Dobroth, 1987, John and Robins, 1993, Paunonen, 1989, Vazire, 2010). Studies have consistently found that extraversion is highly observable (John and Robins, 1993, Kenny et al., 1994), even at zero acquaintance. In fact, one study found that strangers can judge a person's level of sociability just as accurately as their friends (Vazire, 2010). Conversely, several studies have shown that openness to experience is very difficult to observe (e.g., John & Robins, 1993). The more that knowledge of a trait requires access to a person's thought processes and feelings, the more likely we are to inaccurately judge that trait (Vazire, 2010). Our overall impressions of others are often based strongly on highly observable traits like extraversion because they are more salient than low observability traits (Kenrick & Stringfield, 1980). Here, there are some potential applications to judging the amount of someone's personality. It is possible that some individuals seen as having no personality truly lack interesting characteristics. However, it is also possible that some are quite interesting, but those interesting qualities are difficult for outside observers to see. If we have little experience with or information about a person, it seems likely that our judgments about the so-called quantity of someone's personality could be driven by extraversion. If this is true, highly extraverted people may be presumed to have other more pronounced qualities as well, whereas observers may assume that people with moderate or low extraversion have more moderate levels of the other big five, leading them to conclude that the person has "no personality." In addition to differences in observability across the big five, some people are more transparent or readable than others. Colvin (1993) found that individuals who were higher in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, lower in neuroticism, and psychologically healthy were easier to judge accurately. Further, Human and Biesanz (2011) found greater self-other agreement when a target was more psychologically healthy, particularly for less observable traits like agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and neuroticism. They concluded that psychologically well-adjusted people are more judgable because they provide others with more clues about traits that are typically less visible, even in brief encounters. It is possible that perceptions about one's amount of personality are influenced by judgability: the easier it is to read the person, the more personality they are assumed to have. If having no personality is synonymous with being "neutral" or relatively invisible, having a lot of personality may mean that a person is more likely to capture others' interest. Qualities that make a person seem intriguing, such as their hobbies, breadth of knowledge, and depth, may fall under the domain of openness to experience. If openness to experience is not easily judged, how could it factor into quantity judgments? Evaluativeness refers to differences in the social desirability of each pole of a personality trait; if a trait is highly evaluative, the high pole of that personality trait is considered to be much more socially desirable than its low pole (John & Robins, 1993). John and Robins (1993) found that while extraversion is easily observable, it is the least evaluative of the big five; in other words, although we like people who are high in extraversion, perhaps with the exception of highly dominant people (John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008), we do not necessarily dislike people who are low in extraversion. Openness to experience, on the other hand, is highly evaluative, meaning that while having high openness is quite socially desirable, having low openness is actively undesirable. Because we have stronger feelings, whether positive or negative, toward individuals at the more extreme ends of evaluative traits, information about those traits is likely to be salient and influence our overall judgments about those individuals. This may explain why in some contexts "a lot of personality" seems to indicate a compliment, and in others, an insult. People who have more moderate levels of evaluative traits may be unlikely to arouse strong positive or negative feelings in others, leading to a judgment of little personality, while people are judged to have a lot of personality because they evoke a stronger reaction. Finally, acquaintanceship may play a role in whether people are perceived to have a large or small amount of personality. Although we can perceive acquaintances' and even total strangers' personalities somewhat accurately after only a very brief exposure to them (Borkenau, Mauer, Reimann, Spinath, & Angleitner, 2004), from a photo (Naumann, Vazire, Rentfrow, & Gosling, 2009), or without even seeing them at all (Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, & Morris, 2002), we have evidence that accuracy increases with deeper acquaintance, particularly for less observable traits (Connelly and Ones, 2010, Vazire, 2010). For example, Vazire (2010) found that friends had significantly greater accuracy for a target's openness compared to strangers, and a meta-analytic investigation found that while self-other agreement increases to some degree after multiple interactions, much larger increases in agreement occur when the target and observer have developed interpersonal intimacy (Connelly & Ones, 2010). Another meta-analysis suggested that strangers are harsher judges of personality than persons with whom the target has a minimal acquaintance, such as coworkers (Kim, Di Domenico, & Connelly, 2019). In addition, there is a positivity effect for acquaintance, such that individuals judge people they are close to even more positively than the individual judges themselves (Vazire, 2006). Thus, we may conclude that a person has no personality because we have little experience with them, whereas we may attribute more personality to those we know well because we have earned greater access to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors1. The literature on person perception provides a starting point for thinking about the meaning of the terms "no personality" and "a lot of personality," but since no research has directly addressed this question, the current study was largely exploratory. We had several questions about how people ascribe an amount of personality to a target. First, what are the characteristics of people who have "no personality" or "a lot of personality"? How do we use these terms in everyday conversation, and what are the trait profiles associated with each extreme? Second, are these impressions formed based on observable and evaluative traits? Third, what is the role of acquaintance in judgments of amount of personality? Finally, do we like people with no personality less than people with a lot of personality? For this initial investigation, we asked participants to describe in their own words what they imagined when they pictured someone who has no personality or a lot of personality2. They were then asked to think of a fictional character that fit these categories and rate the characters on the big five, the characters' centrality to their stories, their likeability, and participants' confidence in their personality ratings. We asked participants to nominate a character rather than a real person for two reasons: first, because in attempting to describe what is meant by "no personality" and "a lot of personality," we thought that a list of characters in popular culture would provide a common basis for understanding what types of people are described by these terms, and second, because if people with no personality are simply less well-known, we believed participants might have had difficulty in thinking of someone in their life that fit this description. Further, we believed that the type of character participants nominated (main versus non-main) might act as a proxy for acquaintance: We tend to know main characters well, while we know non-main characters on a more superficial level. Many aspects of the study were exploratory. However, we did make a few predictions based on trait observability, evaluativeness, and acquaintance. In the qualitative data, we predicted that extraversion would be a component of "a lot of personality," while boringness and lack of individuality would be present for "no personality." We made no other predictions regarding qualitative domains. In the quantitative data, due to extraversion's visibility, we predicted that people with no personality would be perceived to be lower in extraversion than people with a lot of personality. Similarly, since openness to experience is the most evaluative trait, and higher levels of openness should correspond to being viewed as more interesting, we predicted that participants would find characters with no personality to be lower in openness. If judgments of "no personality" are made based on a lack of acquaintance, we might expect that participants would have less confidence in their ratings for the character with no personality. Finally, based on lay observations of how the terms are used in common language, we predicted that having a lot of personality would be viewed more positively than no personality (i.e., they would like individuals with a lot of personality better than those with no personality). We made no predictions for any of the above analyses for agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. (ScienceDirect)

ostentatious

(adj.) marked by conspicuous or pretentious display, showy

What should I know about scholarships at Harper?

13,324 students were awarded $41,492,774 in scholarships, grants and tuition waivers through Harper College in 2021-2022. All students should apply for financial aid and scholarships. (Harper website)

valet

2. NORTH AMERICAN a person employed to park cars. "he handed his keys to the parking valet" (Online def)

What are some common literary devices?

28 Common Literary Devices to Know Matt Ellis Matt Ellis Updated on August 17, 2021 · Writing Tips Whether you're improving your writing skills or studying for a big English exam, literary devices are important to know. But there are dozens of them, in addition to literary elements and techniques, and things can get more confusing than a simile embedded within a metaphor! To help you become a pro at identifying literary devices, we provide this guide to some of the most common ones. We include a one-stop glossary with literary device meanings, along with examples to illustrate how they're used. Here's a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write. Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently WRITE WITH GRAMMARLY What are literary devices? "Literary device" is a broad term for all the techniques, styles, and strategies an author uses to enhance their writing. With millennia of literature in hundreds of different languages, humankind has amassed quite a few of these writing devices, which continue to evolve. Literary devices can entail general elements that come back again and again in a work of literature, as well as the specific and precise treatment of words only used once. Really, a literary device is anything that can take boring or flavorless writing and turn it into rich, engaging prose! >>Read More: What Type of Writer Are You? Literary devices vs. literary elements vs. literary techniques There are a few competing terms when discussing literary devices, so let's set the record straight. Literary elements and literary techniques are both types of literary devices. Literary elements are "big-picture" literary devices that extend throughout the entire work, such as setting, theme, mood, and allegory. Literary techniques are the literary devices that deal with individual words and sentences, such as euphemisms and alliteration. How to identify literary devices when you're reading You don't necessarily need to understand literary devices to enjoy a good book. Certain devices like personification, onomatopoeia, and anthropomorphism are still entertaining to read, even if you don't know them by their proper name. However, identifying literary devices enables you to reflect on the artistry of a piece of writing and understand the author's motives. The more literary devices you recognize, the more you comprehend the writing as a whole. Recognizing literary devices helps you notice nuances and piece together a greater meaning that you otherwise might have missed. To identify literary devices when reading, it's best to familiarize yourself with as many as you can. Your first step is to know what to look for, and from there it just takes practice by reading different works and styles. With some experience, you'll start to spot literary devices instinctively without disrupting your enjoyment or focus while reading. How to use literary devices in your writing To use literary devices in your own writing, you first need to recognize them "in the wild." Read the list below so you know what you're looking for, and then pay extra attention when you're reading. See how literary devices are used in the hands of expert writers. When you're ready to experiment with literary devices yourself, the most important tip is to use them naturally. Too many literary devices stacked upon each other is distracting, so it's best to use them only sparingly and at the most impactful moments—like a musical cymbal crash! (See what we did there?) Oftentimes, novice writers will shoehorn literary devices into their writing to make them seem like better authors. The truth is, misusing literary devices stands out more than using them correctly. Wait for a moment when a literary device can occur organically instead of forcing them where they don't belong. >>Read More: Creative Writing 101: Everything You Need to Get Started 28 different literary devices and their meanings Allegory Allegories are narratives that represent something else entirely, like a historical event or significant ideology, to illustrate a deeper meaning. Sometimes the stories are entirely fabricated and only loosely tied to their source, but sometimes the individual characters act as fictional stand-ins for real-life historical figures. Examples: George Orwell's Animal Farm, an allegory about the Russian Revolution of 1917, is one of the most famous allegories ever written; a more modern example is the animated film Zootopia, an allegory about the prejudices of modern society. Alliteration Alliteration is the literary technique of using a sequence of words that begin with the same letter or sound for a poetic or whimsical effect. Examples: Many of Stan Lee's iconic comic book characters have alliterative names: Peter Parker, Matthew Murdock, Reed Richards, and Bruce Banner. Allusion An allusion is an indirect reference to another figure, event, place, or work of art that exists outside the story. Allusions are made to famous subjects so that they don't need explanation—the reader should already understand the reference. Example: The title of Haruki Murakami's novel 1Q84 is itself an allusion to George Orwell's novel 1984. The Japanese word for the number nine is pronounced the same as the English letter Q. Amplification Amplification is the technique of embellishing a simple sentence with more details to increase its significance. Example: "A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." —Roald Dahl, The Twits Anagram An anagram is a word puzzle where the author rearranges the letters in a word or phrase to make a new word or phrase. Example: In Silence of the Lambs, the antagonist Hannibal Lector tried to trick the FBI by naming the suspect Louis Friend, which the protagonist realized was an anagram for "iron sulfide," the technical term for fool's gold. Analogy An analogy compares one thing to something else to help explain a similarity that might not be easy to see. Example: In The Dragons of Eden, Carl Sagan compares the universe's entire history with a single Earth year to better demonstrate the context of when major events occurred; i.e., the Earth formed on September 9, humans first appeared at 10:30 p.m. on December 31. Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is when non-human things like animals or objects act human, exhibiting traits such as speech, thoughts, complex emotions, and sometimes even wearing clothes and standing upright. Example: While most fairy tales feature animals that act like humans, the Beauty and the Beast films anthropomorphize household objects: talking clocks, singing teapots, and more. Antithesis Antithesis places two contrasting and polarized sentiments next to each other in order to accent both. Example: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." —Neil Armstrong Chiasmus The literary technique of chiasmus takes two parallel clauses and inverts the word order of one to create a greater meaning. Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." —John F. Kennedy (adapted from Khalil Gibran) Colloquialism Colloquialism is using casual and informal speech, including slang, in formal writing to make dialogue seem more realistic and authentic. It often incorporates respelling words and adding apostrophes to communicate the pronunciation. Example: "How you doin'?" asked Friends character Joey Tribbiani. Circumlocution Circumlocution is when the writer deliberately uses excessive words and overcomplicated sentence structures to intentionally convolute their meaning. In other words, it means to write lengthily and confusingly on purpose. Example: In Shrek the Third, Pinocchio uses circumlocution to avoid giving an honest answer to the Prince's question. Epigraph An epigraph is an independent, pre-existing quotation that introduces a piece of work, typically with some thematic or symbolic relevance. Example: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man," a quote by Samuel Johnson, is the epigraph that opens Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a novel that deals largely with substance abuse and escapism. Euphemism A euphemism is a soft and inoffensive word or phrase that replaces a harsh, unpleasant, or hurtful one for the sake of sympathy or civility. Example: Euphemisms like "passed away" and "downsizing" are quite common in everyday speech, but a good example in literature comes from Harry Potter, where the wizarding community refers to the villain Voldemort as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" in fear of invoking him. Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is the technique of hinting at future events in a story using subtle parallels, usually to generate more suspense or engage the reader's curiosity. Example: In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker's vision of himself wearing Darth Vader's mask foreshadows the later revelation that Vader is in fact Luke's father. Hyperbole Hyperbole is using exaggeration to add more power to what you're saying, often to an unrealistic or unlikely degree. Example: "I had to wait in the station for ten days—an eternity." —Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness Imagery Imagery refers to writing that invokes the reader's senses with descriptive word choice to create a more vivid and realistic recreation of the scene in their mind. Example: "The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world." —E. B. White, Charlotte's Web Metaphor Similar to an analogy, a metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things to show their similarities by insisting that they're the same. Example: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts. . ." —William Shakespeare, As You Like It Mood A story's mood is the emotional response the author is targeting. A writer sets the mood not just with the plot and characters, but also with tone and the aspects they choose to describe. Example: In the horror novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the literary mood of vampires is scary and ominous, but in the comedic film What We Do In Shadows, the literary mood of vampires is friendly and light-hearted. Motif A motif is a recurring element in a story that holds some symbolic or conceptual meaning. It's closely related to theme, but motifs are specific objects or events, while themes are abstract ideas. Example: In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth's obsession with washing her hands is a motif that symbolizes her guilt. Onomatopoeia Fancy literary term onomatopoeia refers to words that represent sounds, with pronunciations similar to those sounds. Example: The word "buzz" as in "a buzzing bee" is actually pronounced like the noise a bee makes. Oxymoron An oxymoron combines two contradictory words to give them a deeper and more poetic meaning. Example: "Parting is such sweet sorrow." —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Paradox Similar to an oxymoron, a paradox combines two contradictory ideas in a way that, although illogical, still seems to make sense. Example: "I know only one thing, and that is I know nothing." —Socrates in Plato's Apology Personification Personification is when an author attributes human characteristics metaphorically to nonhuman things like the weather or inanimate objects. Personification is strictly figurative, whereas anthropomorphism posits that those things really do act like humans. Example: "The heart wants what it wants—or else it does not care . . ." —Emily Dickinson Portmanteau Portmanteau is the literary device of joining two words together to form a new word with a hybrid meaning. Example: Words like "blog" (web + log), "paratrooper" (parachute + trooper), "motel" (motor + hotel), and "telethon" (telephone + marathon) are all portmanteaus in common English. Puns Puns are a type of comedic wordplay that involve homophones (different words that are pronounced the same) or two separate meanings of the same word. Example: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." —Groucho Marx Satire Satire is a style of writing that uses parody and exaggeration to criticize the faults of society or human nature. Example: The works of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) are well known for being satirical. A more modern example is the TV show South Park, which often satirizes society by addressing current events. Simile Like metaphors, similes also compare two different things to point out their similarities. However, the difference between similes and metaphors is that similes use the words "like" or "as" to soften the connection and explicitly show it's just a comparison. Example: "Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I'm nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water." —Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale Symbolism Closely related to motifs, symbolism is when objects, characters, actions, or other recurring elements in a story take on another, more profound meaning and/or represent an abstract concept. Example: In J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (and The Hobbit), it is said the ring of Sauron symbolizes evil, corruption, and greed, which everyday people, symbolized by Frodo, must strive to resist. Tone Tone refers to the language and word choice an author uses with their subject matter, like a playful tone when describing children playing, or a hostile tone when describing the emergence of a villain. If you're confused about tone vs. mood, tone refers mostly to individual aspects and details, while mood refers to the emotional attitude of the entire piece of work. Example: Told in the first person, J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye uses the angsty and sardonic tone of its teenage protagonist to depict the character's mindset, including slang and curse words. Your writing, at its best. (Grammarly)

Nomex

A fire-resistant synthetic material used in the construction of personal protective equipment for fire fighting. (Quizlet) Nomex in American English (ˈnoumeks) noun. trademark. a brand of lightweight, heat-resistant aramid fiber used in clothing, esp. for firefighters. (Collins dictionary)

Ted Bundy

A serial killer believed to be responsible for 40 murders between 1964 and 1978 who was ultimately convicted based on forensic odontology. (Quizlet) Ted Bundy American serial killer Actions Alternate titles: Theodore Robert Bundy By John Philip Jenkins Article History Table of Contents Ted Bundy, in full Theodore Robert Bundy, (born November 24, 1946, Burlington, Vermont, U.S.—died January 24, 1989, Starke, Florida), American serial killer and rapist, one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century. Ted Bundy Ted Bundy See all media Born: November 24, 1946 Burlington Vermont Died: January 24, 1989 (aged 42) Florida (Anniversary in 5 days) See all related content → Bundy had a difficult childhood; he had a strained relationship with his stepfather, and his shyness made him a frequent target of bullying. Later, however, his intelligence and social skills enabled him to enjoy a successful college career, and he developed a series of apparently normal emotional relationships with women. Despite this apparent stability, he sexually assaulted and killed several young women in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, and Florida between 1974 and 1978. Although he would ultimately confess to 28 murders, some estimated that he was responsible for hundreds of deaths. Following a well-publicized trial, he was sentenced to death in 1979 for the murder of two college students. In the following year he again was sentenced to death, this time for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. Bundy was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1989. Britannica Quiz Famous Serial Killers Despite the appalling nature of his crimes, Bundy became something of a celebrity, particularly following his escape from custody in Colorado in 1977. During his trial his charm and intelligence drew significant public attention. His case inspired a series of popular novels and films devoted to serial murder. It also galvanized feminist criminologists, who contended that the popular media had transformed Bundy into a romantic figure. John Philip Jenkins rape Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment rape crime Actions By Anne L. Barstow Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic rape, unlawful sexual activity, most often involving sexual intercourse, against the will of the victim through force or the threat of force or with an individual who is incapable of giving legal consent because of minor status, mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception. In many jurisdictions, the crime of rape has been subsumed under that of sexual assault. Rape was long considered to be caused by unbridled sexual desire, but it is now understood as a pathological assertion of power over a victim. Key People: Richard Ramirez Mike Tyson Gary Ridgway Richard Speck Marc Dutroux Related Topics: human sexual activity date rape statutory rape rape shield law sexual offense See all related content → Scope, effects, and motivations The legal definition of rape has changed substantially since the late 20th century. The traditional definition was narrow with respect to both gender and age; rape was an act of sexual intercourse by a man with a woman against her will. As rape is now understood, a rapist or a victim may be an adult of either gender or a child. Although rape can occur in same-sex intercourse, it is most often committed by a male against a female. There is also an increasing tendency to treat as rape an act of sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife against her will and to consider forced prostitution and sexual slavery as forms of rape. In 2012 the U.S. Department of Justice adopted a new definition of rape, to be used in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program, that better reflected state criminal codes and the experiences of rape victims. By that definition, rape is "the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." Rape is often explained or excused as a manifestation of racial, ethnic, and class hatred or as stemming from a patriarchal system in which women are viewed as the property of men. Whatever its origins, rape is a serious crime and is treated as a felony in most countries with common-law systems. In many rape trials, the guilt or innocence of the accused hinges on whether or not the victim consented to sexual intercourse. The determination of consent often can lead to distressing cross-examinations of rape victims in court. As a result, many rape victims choose not to report the crime to police or refuse to press charges against their assailants. For example, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an office within the U.S. Department of Justice, fewer than one-quarter of rapes or sexual assaults in the country were reported to police in 2016. Even when brought to trial, those charged with rape have a higher-than-average rate of acquittal, mainly because it is difficult to prove a crime for which there are usually no third-party witnesses and because the testimony of women often may be given less credence than that of men. Rape is thus both underreported and underprosecuted. To protect women from humiliating cross-examination, many jurisdictions have adopted rape shield laws, which limit the ability of the defendant's counsel to introduce the accuser's sexual history as evidence. The psychological motivations of rapists are more complex than was formerly thought. They may include the desire to punish, to gain revenge, to cause pain, to prove sexual prowess, and to control through fear. The psychological reactions of victims of rape also vary but usually include feelings of shame, humiliation, confusion, fear, and rage. Victims often report a feeling of perpetual defilement, an inability to feel clean, an overwhelming sense of vulnerability, and a paralyzing feeling of lack of control over their lives. Many are haunted by fear of the place in which the crime occurred, or of being followed, or of all sexual relationships. Others experience long-term disruption of sleep or eating patterns or an inability to function at work. The duration of the psychological trauma varies from individual to individual; many feel the effects for years, even with considerable supportive therapy. In view of the great psychological harm it causes, many psychologists regard rape as a form of torture—a permanent mutilation of an individual's life. In addition to these psychological effects, in some societies victims of rape face the danger of ostracism or even death at the hands of relatives seeking to preserve their family's honour (victims of abduction without rape may be treated in the same way). Statutory rape The age at which an individual may give effective consent to sexual intercourse is commonly set in most countries at between 14 and 18 years (though it is as low as 12 years in some countries). Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of consent is termed statutory rape, and consent is no longer relevant. The term statutory rape specifically refers to the legal proscription against having sexual intercourse with a child or any other person presumed to lack comprehension of the physical and other consequences of the act. The term statutory rape may also refer to any kind of sexual assault committed against a person above the age of consent by an individual in a position of authority (e.g., employers, teachers, clergy, doctors, and parents). Statutory rape often leaves the victim with long-term psychological and physical damage, including sexually transmitted diseases and the inability to bear children. For example, statutory rape was particularly prevalent in South Africa in the period following the abolition of apartheid, when it was estimated that some two-fifths of South African rape victims were under age 18. Many rapes in the country were committed in the mistaken belief that sexual intercourse with a virgin (including an infant) would cure the rapist of HIV/AIDS. According to Interpol, in the early 21st century there were more rapes per capita in South Africa than in any other country. A 2009 study conducted by the Medical Research Council in South Africa showed that more than a quarter of South African men said they had committed rape. Nearly three-quarters of those men committed their first rape before reaching age 20, and nearly half of them were repeat offenders. Many of the participants expressed no remorse for the assaults. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

capacity

An ability; potential the maximum amount that something can contain.

History of coronavirus

Coronavirus History Written by Linda Rath Medically Reviewed by Dan Brennan, MD on December 31, 2022 Coronaviruses are a big family of different viruses. Some of them cause the common cold in people. Others infect animals, including bats, camels, and cattle. But how did SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, come into being? Here's what we know about the virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and has set off a global pandemic. Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? There have been numerous investigations to determine the origins of SARS-CoV-2 but none has been conclusive. The coronaviruses behind Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) developed from bats. The virus first appeared on a small scale in November 2019 with the first large cluster appearing in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It was first thought SARS-CoV-2 made the jump to humans at one of Wuhan, China's open-air "wet markets." Later theories voiced concern that it may have originated as a biological weapon in a lab in China. As COVID-19 spread both inside and outside China, it infected people who have had no direct contact with animals. That meant the virus is transmitted from one human to another. Its spread continued to the U.S. and around the globe, meaning that people are unwittingly catching and passing on the coronavirus. The worldwide transmission is what is now a pandemic declared on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization. Currently, there are two hypotheses as to its origins: exposure to an infected animal or man-made in a laboratory. There is not enough evidence to support either argument. The latest intelligence reports agree that the virus is not genetically engineered or developed as a biological weapon. They do say it is possible the version of a coronavirus was being studied with animals in a lab and exposure occurred there. Again, however, there is not enough evidence for a definitive conclusion. Coronavirus Evolution Scientists first identified a human coronavirus in 1965. It caused a common cold. Later that decade, researchers found a group of similar human and animal viruses and named them after their crown-like appearance. Seven coronaviruses can infect humans. The one that causes SARS emerged in southern China in 2002 and quickly spread to 28 other countries. More than 8,000 people were infected by July 2003, and 774 died. A small outbreak in 2004 involved only four more cases. This coronavirus causes fever, headache, and respiratory problems such as cough and shortness of breath. MERS started in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Almost all of the nearly 2,500 cases have been in people who live in or travel to the Middle East. This coronavirus is less contagious than its SARS cousin but more deadly, killing 858 people. It has the same respiratory symptoms but can also cause kidney failure. (WebMD)

New Angel investors?

FORBESSMALL BUSINESSENTREPRENEURS 10 Essential Tips For New Angel Investors Chris Smith Contributor I write about the startup scene in Europe and Israel and the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs. Sep 8, 2020,07:54am EDT Listen to article This article is more than 2 years old. Woman with angel wings Supporting a young company as an angel can be [+] GETTY Becoming an angel investor can be an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable experience. You get to meet entrepreneurs who are pursuing their dreams and building companies that have the potential to change the world, often at considerable personal risk. Even better, when you write a check, you become a small part of that exhilarating journey. It is perhaps a reflection of how much angels enjoy what they do that the angel market in the U.K. and throughout Europe appears to have remained buoyant throughout Covid-19 and the economic uncertainty it has created. In fact, as more founders successfully exit their companies, we are seeing a new profile of younger investors enter the market. This is good news for anybody looking to raise early-stage capital. If you are thinking about starting to write some angel checks, here are my ten essential tips from a decade of angel investing. Never rush. Unlike VCs, angels do not have to invest. Take your time getting to know both the ecosystem where you plan to invest and each company. The first point is particularly important; as a new angel investor, you need to build up your pattern recognition to know what a good deal looks like. You also need to make sure that you are investing alongside people and funds that are credible and share your values and approach to business. The waters are not entirely shark free. Your offering. Anybody with surplus capital can angel invest, but if you do not offer value to the companies you invest in, you will be known as 'dumb money'. Being a passive angel works for some people, but for the ecosystem to operate most effectively, you should want to offer support to your founders. Starting to help founders even before you invest is good practice to build a positive reputation. At the same time, make sure you are giving the appropriate level of support and not being overly hands-on or disruptive. Team, Team, Team. When you meet a founder who has an idea that resonates with you or is operating in a market you find exciting, it can conjure up quite powerful emotions and it is easy to get swept up in the excitement (especially if they are good salespeople). You may reach the conclusions: 'great idea, wrong team' or 'exciting market, wrong team' or 'great idea and exciting market, wrong team'. Sense check your conviction that this is the best team to win in their market. Ultimately, it is the quality and attitude of the team that are the key determinants of success in building any business. Question track records. One of the biggest mistakes investors make is to assume that a strong looking resume - with academic and corporate achievements - equals success running a startup. Often the reverse can be true, with academic and corporate life insulating people from the nuts and bolts of building and running a business. Dig into previous achievements and their relevance. And assess the founders on more than just their resume - that hard to define thing called character is more important. Forbes Small Business 00:42 How To Develop An Emotionally Resonant Digital Marketing Strategy Was Selling Waze To Google A Good Decision? Founder Of Waze Reflects On The Deal4 Types Of Pitch Decks 'Guaranteed' To Get VCThunes Takes Aim At A $60 Trillion Market Opportunity In PaymentsNew Adobe Research: Consumers Expect Even Better Experiences When Economic Conditions Worsen How To Develop AnEmotionally Resonant Digital Marketing Strategy Do your (technology) diligence. Be rigorous in your evaluation of the technology. This does not necessarily mean digging around in the code base, but it does mean validating your key assumptions about what the technology should do. Ask for live demos, download the app, look at app store reviews, talk to the CTO (not just the CEO). Do whatever you can to get a feel for the real status of the technology and the engineering culture of the company. If you are unsure how to diligence the technology, see if you can set up reference calls with other investors who have done it themselves. Stress test the go-to-market strategy. If there is one consistent weakness we tend to see with founders of technology companies in the U.K., it is a lack of sales awareness and an underestimation of how hard it is to sell things. Without an effective sales team, the business will fail. Probe the founders extensively on this area to satisfy yourself that they know how to build a sales machine and have the temperament to make it effective. Be aware of vested interests This is part of having a credible go-to-market strategy but is worth a separate comment. Vested interests kill businesses. Founders either fail to identify them (a particular problem when the founders lack domain expertise) or underestimate them. This can crop up in many business models, but marketplaces is a classic one. If all the players involved in a market have existing and entrenched relationships, there will be significant resistance to any model that aims to cut out middlemen or drive efficiencies. Of course, it can work, but these forces tend to be powerful. Understand dilution. Most angels are aware that they will be diluted when the company they invest in raises additional rounds of capital and issues more shares. However, not all companies dilute angels to the same extent and you need to be aware of companies that will require significant amounts of capital without the ability to increase the valuation of each round. Any business with a brick and mortar element (for example, F&B) can be particularly painful for angels since each time a new store is opened an equity raise is conducted and you get diluted. It is one reason technology is such a popular place to invest - done right, the company should be able to raise increasing amounts at increasing valuations each round. Consider the exit. Being involved in a company as an investor is great fun - you feel part of the journey and live the highs and lows. But being a successful angel investor means making a return on your money. Avoid investing in companies where there is not a sufficiently large market to generate a high multiple on your money. Also, sense check whether there is likely to be an M&A/IPO market to enable an exit. Take a long term view. This should be 'take a really, really long term view.' Exits can arrive quickly, but it is likely that the best performers in an angel portfolio will take ten to fifteen years to reach their full potential. You will also experience the failures before the successes. If you do not have patience, cannot stomach total losses and expect quick returns then this is not the asset class for you. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. Chris Smith Editorial Standards Corrections Reprints & Permissions © 2023 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. AdChoicesPrivacy StatementDo Not Sell My Personal InformationDigital Terms of SaleTerms of ServiceContact UsReport a Security IssueJobs At ForbesReprints & PermissionsForbes Press RoomAdvertise (Forbes)

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ETFs vs Mutual Funds

Pricing and ease of trading Margin (difference between the seller's cost for acquiring products and the selling price) Operating Costs are lower Tax Efficiency Commissions Overtrading Easily influenced by market - Trade status: ETFs are negotiable, mutual funds are redeemable - ETFs have lower expense ratios - ETFs are more tax efficient Mutual fund shares are redeemable, which means they can only be bought from and sold back to the mutual fund. There is no secondary market for mutual funds. In contrast, ETFs are exchange-traded and can be bought and sold between investors throughout the day. Because ETFs have a secondary market, they are considered more liquid than mutual funds. (Quizlet) ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: Which Is Better for Young Investors? By JOHN P. SCHMOLL, JR. Updated March 01, 2023 Reviewed by KHADIJA KHARTIT Fact checked by KIRSTEN ROHRS SCHMITT ETFs vs. Mutual Funds for Young Investors: An Overview Which is better for young investors, ETFs or mutual funds? That depends on a number of factors. Some of those include how much a young investor has to invest, how actively involved they want to be with their investments, whether they know how markets function, and their understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Young investors must also identify their investment goals and learn about exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds to pinpoint whether one or the other could be the right investment for their specific needs. Here's some background. These investment funds pool investor deposits and then purchase a wide variety of individual stocks, bonds, or other assets. They then sell shares of the funds to investors. Both types of funds offer instant diversification and professional management of fund assets. They both involve less risk (and greater convenience) compared with investing in individual securities. Moreover, the great variety of ETFs and mutual funds can offer varying degrees of risk and return to suit different investor goals. Mutual funds are still the more popular, by far. But ETFs are catching up. Read on to learn which type of fund may be better for you, as a young investor. KEY TAKEAWAYS Most mutual funds are actively managed while most ETFs are passive investments that track a particular index. ETFs can be more tax-efficient than actively managed funds due to lower turnover and fewer capital gains. ETFs are bought and sold on an exchange at different prices throughout the day while mutual funds can be bought or sold only once a day at one price. Many online brokers now offer commission-free ETFs, regardless of the size of the account; mutual funds may require a minimum initial investment. It is generally cheaper to buy mutual funds directly through a fund family than through a broker. ETFs While mutual funds have been around since the 1920s, ETFs are the newer kid on the investing block. They started trading in 1993 and have grown in popularity since then. You can buy ETFs through virtually any online broker, whereas mutual funds aren't always available through brokers. ETFs don't require a minimum initial investment because they trade as individual shares. You can buy a single share, if you choose to. ETFs can be either actively or passively managed. However, the majority are passive investments that track a major index instead of trying to beat the market. As such, they can be appropriate for investors with a long-term buy-and-hold investment strategy who prefer passive over active management. The average expense ratios of index equity ETFs declined to 0.16% in 2021, compared to 0.34% in 2009. 1 Generally, these ETF fees are lower than those charged by actively managed mutual funds. For some investors, the very design of a passive ETF is a negative. Brent D. Dickerson, certified financial planner (CFP) and founder of Trinity Wealth Management, says, "The drawback to an ETF is that it will do what the index it is tracking does. So, for example, if you invest in an ETF that tracks the S&P 500, if it loses 40% of its value, then so will the ETF." "With a mutual fund, the manager is not typically invested in the exact same assets as the index . . . and so, there is a possibility of doing better than the ETF. The same holds true for up markets. If the index increases 40% so will the ETF. Actively managed mutual funds may see outperformance of the index, but this is never something that can be duplicated time and time again over long periods of time." Young investors should decide how actively they'll buy and sell ETFs. That's because active trading may lead to an increase in their overall fees and can decrease their returns. Mutual Funds While not as hip as ETFs, mutual funds also can be a great investment option. They may not be available through all brokerages, but you can purchase them directly from the fund family. Most fund families make it easy to invest money at set intervals, which is a great feature for young investors trying to establish a consistent investing pattern. It's also an opportunity to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging. "They can go to a low-cost fund company like Vanguard and set up an automatic investment program where perhaps $100 is pulled from their checking account every two weeks and invested in a Roth IRA. They can set this up with a few minutes of work and then simply let the investment program happen," says Jason Lina, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), CFP, and lead advisor with Resource Planning Group. Mutual funds are still more expensive than ETFs, but there is a reason for that. They include 12b-1 fees, which essentially are compensation for advisors' efforts to sell a given fund. Mutual funds can be either actively or passively managed. Most are actively managed. For investors who seek an investment that attempts to outperform the market, an actively managed fund may be the way to go. Actively managed mutual funds can be attractive to those targeting inefficient markets (e.g., emerging markets). In such circumstances, active managers try to take advantage of price inefficiencies to boost returns. Bear in mind that active management can result in added costs and an annual performance that falls short of the overall market. An actively managed fund is also typically less tax-efficient due to the capital gains generated as a manager buys and sells securities to try to outperform the market. Many, but not all, mutual funds require minimum amounts to open an account. You may see a range of $100 to $3,000. Quick Reference Comparison All investors, whether they're just starting out or highly experienced should be sure to read fund materials carefully for all pertinent details about a potential investment and to compare one to another. In the meantime, here's a summary of ETF and mutual fund basics that highlights their similarities and differences. ETFs Mutual Funds Passive or Active Management Both are available, but primarily passive Both are available, but primarily active Structure Funds that purchase and manage portfolios of securities Funds that purchase and manage portfolios of securities Professionally managed Yes Yes Diversification Broad exposure to variety of assets/asset classes Broad exposure to variety of assets/asset classes Liquidity Generally, highly liquid due to availability on exchanges but some ETFs can be thinly traded Generally, highly liquid but can take several days to receive proceeds from sales How to Trade Buy and sell shares at different prices on an exchange any time during open hours Buy and sell once a day at end of day, at one price Minimum Required Investment Limited to cost of shares and how many are bought Varies, e.g., from $0 to $500 to $3,000 Costs May include operating expense ratio, broker's trade commissions, bid/ask spread May include operating expense ratio, loads, 12b-1 fee Expense Ratio Usually lower than actively managed funds Usually higher than passively managed funds Pricing Determined by market Net asset value (NAV) Tax Efficiency Usually tax efficient due to less turnover and fewer capital gains Not as tax efficient due to more turnover and greater capital gains Automatic Investing Not available Yes, for investments and withdrawals How to Decide on an ETF or a Mutual Fund Which investment to buy depends on your financial needs, investment goals, tolerance for risk, and investment style. Carefully consider those factors, as well as the highlights below, to determine whether an ETF or a mutual fund is right for you. Consider an ETF If passive management fits your investment style and you can accept whatever return the index offers If you want lower operating expense ratios If you plan to trade shares actively and prefer the access and price movements an exchange provides If tax efficiency is a priority Consider a Mutual Fund If you seek to outperform the market with active management If the potential for higher returns outweighs the higher fees If you want to invest the same dollar amount automatically at regular intervals If your target market is inefficient and may benefit from active managers seeking to capitalize on that characteristic Consider Both Owning both types of funds may be a smart strategy, too, as each can offer protection and opportunity. For example, if you own a passively-managed ETF, also buying an actively-managed mutual fund may offer you some upside potential beyond that of the index being tracked. If you own an actively-managed mutual fund, also buying a passively-managed ETF may protect against the downside risk and volatility associated with an actively-managed mutual fund. Are Mutual Funds Good for Young Investors? Yes. For young investors with a long-term, buy-and-hold investment strategy, mutual funds can be a smart place to put their money. They have been around for many years and have stood the test of time as investments. They offer immediate diversification, professional management, and passive or actively managed fund choices. You don't have to buy individual stocks, bonds, or other assets yourself. Plus, they're affordable, with a range of required minimum amounts from $0 on up. Are ETFs Good for First-Time Investors? ETFs can be a great choice for first-time investors, no matter what your age is. ETFs are funds that pool investor money and then use it buy a variety of individual securities (so you don't have to). They are professionally managed and trade throughout the day on exchanges. They don't require a minimum investment because they trade as shares. The majority of ETFs are passively managed funds that simply track an index. For instance, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) tracks the S&P 500 Index. What Are Two Disadvantages of ETFs One possible disadvantage is that a passively-managed ETFs is designed to track an index. That means it typically will not outperform it. If your goal is to beat the market, then an ETF may not meet your needs. Another disadvantage is the potential for low trading volume. This results in wider bid-ask spreads. In turn, that can mean that you may not be able to buy or sell shares at the price you expect. It's a good idea to check on trading volume before you decide to buy a particular ETF. Wide bid-ask spreads can also represent a hidden cost that you may not realize exists. The Bottom Line For young investors, ETFs and mutual funds offer tremendous investment opportunities. Which of the two is the best choice depends on an individual investor's financial goals, investing style, their overall investment strategy for reaching their goals, acceptable costs, and more. Young investors shouldn't feel limited to selecting one or the other type of fund. They can invest in both if they're targeting different markets, or to invest passively as well as actively. No matter which type you choose, be sure to read a particular fund's prospectus to learn all about it. ARTICLE SOURCES Related Articles ETFS Why Are ETF Fees Lower Than Mutual Fund Fees? A man looks at his mutual funds investments on his tablet while at home at night CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSITS (CDS) CDs vs. Mutual Funds Business financial and forex concept, Hipster young Woman freelancer using the technology laptop and smart phone mobile showing trading graph with the stock exchange trading graph screen background ETFS How To Invest in the S&P 500 ETFS Index Fund vs. ETF: What's the Difference? ETFS Tax Efficiency Differences: ETFs vs. Mutual Funds Midsection Businessmen Analyzing Charts On Laptop In Office INVESTING ETF vs. Mutual Fund: What's the Difference? Related Terms Indexing: Definition and Uses in Economics and Investing Indexing may be a statistical measure for tracking economic data, a methodology for grouping a specific market segment, or an investment management strategy for passive investments. more Portfolio Management: Definition, Types, and Strategies Portfolio management involves selecting and overseeing a group of investments that meet a client's long-term financial objectives and risk tolerance. more Unit Investment Trust (UIT): Definition and How to Invest Unit investment trusts (UIT) buy a fixed portfolio of securities and allows investors to redeem their "units," similar to a mutual fund. more Actively Managed ETF: Meaning, Overview, Limitations An active managed ETF is a form of exchange-traded fund that has a manager or team making decisions on the underlying portfolio allocation. more Index Hugger An index hugger is a managed mutual fund that tends to perform much like a benchmark index. more Passive ETF A passive ETF is a method to invest in an entire index or sector with the benefits of low costs and transparency absent in active investing. more Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Newsletter Twitter TRUSTe About Us Terms of Service Dictionary Editorial Policy Advertise News Privacy Policy Contact Us Careers Do Not Sell My Personal Information Investopedia is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. 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Do Parents Have Favorite Children?

Psychology Today Search Ellen Weber Libby, Ph.D. Ellen Weber Libby Ph.D. The Favorite Child Do Parents Have Favorite Children? Parents respond passionately when asked if they have favorite children. Posted January 5, 2010 Reviewed by Lybi Ma This week Accisej5 posed the following question on Yahoo! Answers: "Do Parents have favorite children?" Accisej5 elaborated by writing "I've always wondered about this. My parents swear they love all four of us the same, but I wonder if they have certain special feelings towards one or two of us. Do you have a 'favorite' child or feel more connected to one than another?" The straightforward answers given by the respondents stimulate important questions regarding the complexities of family dynamics originating from favoritism. article continues after advertisement Can children be treated equally? Georgia wrote, "HA no matter what parents say about loving their kids equally..it's just BS....I think it depends on the parent-child relationship & the different hobbies or interests they share that may strengthen their bond to a point where they favor one child over another. I don't think parents do it purposely, but it happens." Georgia's comments focus attention on three important considerations: loving children equally, similarities between parents and children, and parental intention. First, parents can't love kids equally because no two children are identical. Each child's individual personality fosters loving that is unique to him or her. Second, so much of who we are is hard-wired, and some children are born looking and acting more like one parent than the other. These similarities invite a natural attraction (if we like ourselves) or repulsion (if we don't like ourselves) between parent and child. This can translate into the child's being the parent's favored or unfavored child. Third, the favoritism parents feel for one child over another is usually unconscious, not deliberate. Most parents do not set out to have a favorite - it just evolves. How do love and favoritism differ? ilovepho wrote, "I love both of my children very much. I would never say I love one more than the other because I don't. I will admit that one child is much easier than the other one however she isn't my favourite for that reason, she is just easier going and much more relaxed. I love how different they are and love them both for who they are." article continues after advertisement Love and favoritism differ. ilovepho writes about love, not favoritism. Love connotes tender feelings and strong affection usually accompanied by loyalty and devotion. In contrast, favoritism implies choosing or preferring one person over another. Parents may love all their children, as ilovepho does, and at certain times, prefer or favor one over others. For example, after a trying day at work and a slow drive home in pouring rain, it is reasonable to expect that ilovepho would favor her easier going child than the one causing ruckus. What is critical is that there be occasions when ilovepho favors her more challenging child and that this child trusts the feelings of being favored as legitimate. Can who's the favorite change? Ohsooocu acknowledges that her response was influenced by its proximity to Christmas. "They came home for a visit," she writes. "(T)hree were spoiled rude ******** for the second year in a row and one was sweet...three made me sorry I had children and question if I wasted by life sacrificing for them and one makes it all worth it...when they were younger, no, no favorites and I still love them all..I cried myself to sleep that night, some kids are a source of pain while others bring joy. I think it happens after they are older tho." Who's the favorite can change, and in families nurturing mentally healthy children, it does change. The favorite child can change hourly or daily, monthly or yearly. Adults, based on their own personalities, have preferences for parenting children with particular interests or at different developmental stages. Commonly, adults prefer meeting the needs of children at particular ages, such as those of dependent infants, curious toddlers, compliant middle school children, defiant adolescents, or rebellious young adults. Children have their turn at being the favorite child as they pass through the stage preferred by their parents. article continues after advertisement Many more factors influence the fluidity of favoritism among siblings. Thus, without more information it is impossible to have greater clarity regarding why Ohsooocu experienced her relationship to her children when they were younger more positively than she does now; or why, in the moment, her feelings for one child differ dramatically from the other three. In this blog, three principles regarding favoritism were explored: Can children be treated equally? How do love and favoritism differ? Can who's the favorite change? In the next blog, three other principles will be discussed: When is favoritism cruel? Is favoritism related to birth order? Should parents have favorites? article continues after advertisement About the Author Dr. Ellen Weber Libby, a clinical psychologist, is a psychotherapist in Washington, DC, and is the author of The Favorite Child (January 2010.) (Psychology Today)

Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) and some Russian history

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius A more intimate contact with the thoughts pursued by Marcus during the troubling involvements of his reign, though not what would have been historically most valuable, his day-to-day political thoughts, can be acquired by reading the Meditations. To what extent he intended them for eyes other than his own is uncertain; they are fragmentary notes, discursive and epigrammatic by turn, of his reflections in the midst of campaigning and administration. In a way, it seems, he wrote them to nerve himself for his daunting responsibilities. Strikingly, though they comprise the innermost thoughts of a Roman, the Meditations were written in Greek—to such an extent had the union of cultures become a reality. In many ages these thoughts have been admired; the modern age, however, is more likely to be struck by the pathology of them, their mixture of priggishness and hysteria. Marcus was forever proposing to himself unattainable goals of conduct, forever contemplating the triviality, brutishness, and transience of the physical world and of humanity in general and himself in particular; otherworldly, yet believing in no other world, he was therefore tied to duty and service with no hope, even of everlasting fame, to sustain him. Sickly all through his life and probably plagued with a chronic ulcer, he took daily doses of a drug; the suggestion has been made that the apocalyptic imagery of passages in the Meditations betrays the addict. More certain and more important is the point that Marcus's anxieties reflect, in an exaggerated manner, the ethos of his age. The Meditations, the thoughts of a philosopher-king, have been considered by many generations one of the great books of all times. Although they were Marcus's own thoughts, they were not original. They are basically the moral tenets of Stoicism, learned from Epictetus: the cosmos is a unity governed by an intelligence, and the human soul is a part of that divine intelligence and can therefore stand, if naked and alone, at least pure and undefiled, amid chaos and futility. One or two of Marcus's ideas, perhaps more through lack of rigorous understanding than anything else, diverged from Stoic philosophy and approached that Platonism that was itself then turning into the Neoplatonism into which all pagan philosophies, except Epicureanism, were destined to merge. But he did not deviate so far as to accept the comfort of any kind of survival after death. At the same time that Marcus was securing his trans-Danubian frontiers, Egypt, Spain, and Britain were troubled by rebellions or invasions. By 175, the general Avidius Cassius, who earlier had served under Verus, had virtually become a prefect of all of the eastern provinces, including control of the important province of Egypt. In that year, Avidius Cassius took the occasion of a rumour of Marcus's death to proclaim himself emperor. Marcus made peace in the north with those tribes not already subjugated and prepared to march against Avidius, but the rebel general was assassinated by his own soldiers. Marcus used the opportunity to make a tour of pacification and inspection in the East, visiting Antioch, Alexandria, and Athens—where, like Hadrian, he was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries (though that esoteric religious cult does not seem to have impinged at all upon his philosophical views). During the journey the empress Faustina, who had been with her husband in the Danubian wars as well, died. Great public honours were bestowed upon her in life and in death, and in his Meditations Marcus spoke of her with love and admiration. The ancient sources accuse her of infidelity and disloyalty (complicity, in fact, with Avidius Cassius), but the charges are implausible. Commodus Commodus In 177 Marcus proclaimed his 16-year-old son, Commodus, joint emperor. Together they resumed the Danubian wars. Marcus was determined to pass from defense to offense and to an expansionist redrawing of Rome's northern boundaries. His determination seemed to be winning success when, in 180, he died at his military headquarters, having just had time to commend Commodus to the chief advisers of the regime. Legacy Marcus's choice of his only surviving son as his successor has always been viewed as a tragic paradox. Commodus (reigned as sole emperor 180-192) turned out badly, though two things must be borne in mind: emperors are good and bad in the ancient sources according as they did or did not satisfy the senatorial governing class, and Commodus's rapid calling off of the northern campaigns may well have been wiser than his father's obsessive and costly expansionism. But those who criticize Marcus for ensuring the accession of Commodus are usually under the misapprehension that Marcus was reverting to crude dynasticism after a long and successful period of "philosophic" succession by the best available man. This is historically untenable. Marcus had no choice in the matter: if he had not made Commodus his successor, he would have had to order him to be put to death. Marcus was a statesman, perhaps, but one of no great calibre; nor was he really a sage. In general, he is a historically overrated figure, presiding in a bewildered way over an empire beneath the gilt of which there already lay many a decaying patch. But his personal nobility and dedication survive the most remorseless scrutiny; he counted the cost obsessively, but he did not shrink from paying it. John Anthony Crook Peter I Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government World Leaders Emperors & Empresses Peter I emperor of Russia Actions Alternate titles: Peter the Great, Pyotr Alekseyevich, Pyotr Veliky By Leonid Alekseyevich Nikiforov Article History Table of Contents Top Questions What were Peter the Great's accomplishments? What was Peter the Great's childhood like? Who were Peter the Great's wives? How did Peter the Great die? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Peter I, Russian in full Pyotr Alekseyevich, byname Peter the Great, Russian Pyotr Veliky, (born June 9 [May 30, Old Style], 1672, Moscow, Russia—died February 8 [January 28], 1725, St. Petersburg), tsar of Russia who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone thereafter (1696-1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country's greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers. Peter I Peter I See all media Born: June 9, 1672 Moscow Russia Died: February 8, 1725 (aged 52) St. Petersburg Russia Title / Office: emperor (1721-1725), Russian Empire tsar (1682-1725), Russia Founder: St. Petersburg House / Dynasty: Romanov dynasty See all related content → Alexis Alexis Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina Peter was the son of Tsar Alexis by his second wife, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. Unlike his half-brothers, sons of his father's first wife, Mariya Ilinichna Miloslavskaya, Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother's former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West. Youth and accession When Alexis died in 1676, Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III, but, in fact, power fell into the hands of the Miloslavskys, relatives of Fyodor's mother, who deliberately pushed Peter and the Naryshkin circle aside. When Fyodor died childless in 1682, a fierce struggle for power ensued between the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins: the former wanted to put Fyodor's brother, the delicate and feebleminded Ivan V, on the throne; the Naryshkins stood for the healthy and intelligent Peter. Representatives of the various orders of society, assembled in the Kremlin, declared themselves for Peter, who was then proclaimed tsar, but the Miloslavsky faction exploited a revolt of the Moscow streltsy, or musketeers of the sovereign's bodyguard, who killed some of Peter's adherents, including Matveyev. Ivan and Peter were then proclaimed joint tsars, and eventually, because of Ivan's precarious health and Peter's youth, Ivan's 25-year-old sister Sophia was made regent. Clever and influential, Sophia took control of the government; excluded from public affairs, Peter lived with his mother in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, near Moscow, often fearing for his safety. All this left an ineradicable impression on the young tsar and determined his negative attitude toward the streltsy. One result of Sophia's overt exclusion of Peter from the government was that he did not receive the usual education of a Russian tsar; he grew up in a free atmosphere instead of being confined within the narrow bounds of a palace. While his first tutor, the former church clerk Nikita Zotov, could give little to satisfy Peter's curiosity, the boy enjoyed noisy outdoor games and took especial interest in military matters, his favourite toys being arms of one sort or another. He also occupied himself with carpentry, joinery, blacksmith's work, and printing. Britannica Quiz Emperors and Empresses from Around the (Non-Roman) World Quiz Near Preobrazhenskoye there was a nemetskaya sloboda ("German colony") where foreigners were allowed to reside. Acquaintance with its inhabitants aroused Peter's interest in the life of other nations, and an English sailboat, found derelict in a shed, whetted his passion for seafaring. Mathematics, fortification, and navigation were the sciences that appealed most strongly to Peter. A model fortress was built for his amusement, and he organized his first "play" troops, from which, in 1687, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Guards regiments were formed—to become the nucleus of a new Russian Army. Early in 1689 Natalya Naryshkina arranged Peter's marriage to the beautiful Eudoxia (Yevdokiya Fyodorovna Lopukhina). This was obviously a political act, intended to demonstrate the fact that the 17-year-old Peter was now a grown man, with a right to rule in his own name. The marriage did not last long: Peter soon began to ignore his wife, and in 1698 he relegated her to a convent. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now In August 1689 a new revolt of the streltsy took place. Sophia and her faction tried to use it to their own advantage for another coup d'état, but events this time turned decisively in Peter's favour. He removed Sophia from power and banished her to the Novodevichy convent; she was forced to become a nun after a streltsy rebellion in 1698. Though Ivan V remained nominally joint tsar with Peter, the administration was now largely given over to Peter's kinsmen, the Naryshkins, until Ivan's death in 1696. Peter, meanwhile continuing his military and nautical amusements, sailed the first seaworthy ships to be built in Russia. His games proved to be good training for the tasks ahead. External events Expansion of Russia, 1300-1796 Expansion of Russia, 1300-1796 At the beginning of Peter's reign, Russia was territorially a huge power, but with no access to the Black Sea, the Caspian, or the Baltic, and to win such an outlet became the main goal of Peter's foreign policy. The Azov campaigns (1695-96) The first steps taken in this direction were the campaigns of 1695 and 1696, with the object of capturing Azov from the Crimean Tatar vassals of Turkey. On the one hand, these Azov campaigns could be seen as fulfilling Russia's commitments, undertaken during Sophia's regency, to the anti-Turkish "Holy League" of 1684 (Austria, Poland, and Venice); on the other hand, they were intended to secure the southern frontier against Tatar raids, as well as to approach the Black Sea. The first campaign ended in failure (1695), but this did not discourage Peter: he promptly built a fleet at Voronezh to sail down the Don River and in 1696 Azov was captured. To consolidate this success Taganrog was founded on the northern shore of the Don estuary, and the building of a large navy was started. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

Tyler the Creator

Tyler, the Creator, an Insider Forever on the Outside His new album, "Call Me if You Get Lost," is both an embrace of hip-hop tradition and a swerve into new emotional terrain. Give this article Read in app At the 2020 Grammys, Tyler, the Creator said, "I never fully felt accepted in rap." On his new album, he leans in to rapping. At the 2020 Grammys, Tyler, the Creator said, "I never fully felt accepted in rap." On his new album, he leans in to rapping.Credit...Luis "Panch" Perez By Jon Caramanica July 8, 2021 Call Me if You Get LostNYT Critic's Pick In January of last year, Tyler, the Creator's "Igor" won the Grammy Award for best rap album. Speaking to the press backstage, he expressed frustration at the narrow ways in which Black artists are celebrated at the Grammys, calling his nomination in the rap category, for a deeply musically diverse album, "a backhanded compliment." But the attention focused on that comment overshadowed what he'd said onstage when he received the award, which was that he was grateful for his fans' support, because, he confessed, "I never fully felt accepted in rap." Blockaded on both sides, Tyler nevertheless emerged victorious, an acknowledgment of the sheer force of the vision he'd built for a decade as the de facto macher of the Odd Future crew. It was also a testament to the way he harnessed the power of the internet and built a vision from whole cloth, selling it to millions without much intersecting with the systems constructed to do that. Still, the exclusions sting a little. And the boisterous, sometimes scabrous, and persistently energetic "Call Me if You Get Lost" — currently the No. 1 album in the country — is the logical rejoinder to both of those obstacles. It's as thoroughgoing a rap album as Tyler has released — rarely has he been this keen to flaunt his bona fides. But it also demonstrates the pop potential of Tyler's now-signature approach to hip-hop, the way his post-Pharrell embrace of chords and melody is in fact in conversation with 1960s pop, French chanson, and acoustic soul and funk. A tauntingly good hip-hop album, or a rewiring of pop DNA: "Call Me if You Get Lost" has it both ways. First, the bars. Part of the chasm separating Tyler from the rest of the genre (in perception, at least) is how he has in the past sometimes downplayed his lyrical skill in favor of musical experimentation. When he leans in to rapping, as he does on this album, it's still a refreshing jolt. "Call Me if You Get Lost" is Tyler's sixth album. Mostly, he's preoccupied with the lifestyle that success has afforded him, but even though the subject matter can be repetitive — there's lots of Rolls-Royce mentions, lots of discussions of passports — he delivers them with the shock of the new. "Y'all don't understand, fish so fresh that you could taste the sand," he boasts on the lush "Hot Wind Blows." On the gloomy and stomping "Lumberjack," he emphasizes the depth of his independence: "I own my companies full, told 'em to keep the loan." Sign up for the Louder Newsletter Stay on top of the latest in pop and jazz with reviews, interviews, podcasts and more from The New York Times music critics. Get it sent to your inbox. The album is structured in the manner of one of DJ Drama's essential mid-2000s Gangsta Grillz mixtapes, with Drama himself barking over each track, weaving in between Tyler boasts. Tyler's resuscitation of an aesthetic that was likely formative to him is both a calculated nod to the hip-hop community that couldn't quite place him early in his career, and also a tweak to the puffed-chest energy of that era. The frictive juxtaposition of Drama shrieking "Gangsta Grizzzzillzzzz" while Tyler is speaking about keeping picnic blankets in the car — it's both homage and disruption. That's how Tyler approaches his production here, too. "Lumberjack" is built on an ominous sample from the horrorcore pioneers Gravediggaz, and "Wusyaname" flirts with 1990s R&B with a sample from H-Town's "Back Seat (Wit No Sheets)." Tyler is also eager to display how seamlessly he can integrate some of contemporary hip-hop's signature vocalists, whether it's the unrelentingly grimy 42 Dugg ("Lemonhead") or the sweetly tragic YoungBoy Never Broke Again ("Wusyaname"). And he extracts startlingly good guest verses from his elders: Pharrell Williams ("Juggernaut") and Lil Wayne ("Hot Wind Blows"). A tauntingly good hip-hop album, or a rewiring of pop DNA: “Call Me if You Get Lost” has it both ways. A tauntingly good hip-hop album, or a rewiring of pop DNA: "Call Me if You Get Lost" has it both ways.Credit...Mario Anzuoni/Reuters There's a second, parallel narrative at play, too, on "Call Me if You Get Lost," which in places reads like two separate albums born of the same circumstances tugging at each other — one about how carefree and privileged Tyler's success has made him, and the other about how all of those spoils don't add up to much without love. The eight-and-a-half minute long "Wilshire" is where the two collide. It's a startling narrative about coveting a person who you can't have (because they're in a relationship with one of your friends) that reads as many things: an elegantly drawn story, a gut-kick emotional excavation, a track with boom-bap urgency tempered by wandering-in-space effects. Tyler lingers over feeling here, and it's affecting and surprising: "They say, 'Bros over hoes,' I'm like, 'Mm, nah, hey'/I would rather hold your hand than have a cool handshake." He picks up the theme on the far tougher and more frenetic "Corso": "My heart broken/Remembered I was rich so I bought me some new emotions/And a new boat 'cause I'd rather cry in the ocean." These intersections of cocksureness and anxiety are this album at its best. (Fittingly, the title "Call Me if You Get Lost" reads either as a statement of generosity or a plea, depending on your lens.) Songs like the less emotionally ambiguous "Sweet / I Thought You Wanted to Dance" are generally less impactful — Tyler thrives on discord. A decade ago, discord was the fullness of his message. He was, by turns, a troll, an antagonist and at points outright offensive. He revisits that era on the raucous "Manifesto," the most unexpected turn on this album: "I was canceled before canceled was with Twitter fingers/Protesting outside my shows, I gave them the middle finger." But Tyler is older now (30, to be precise). On the back of those controversies, he built an idiosyncratic empire that belonged to no scene (maybe because no scene would have him). "Manifesto" is the rare moment in his catalog where Tyler expresses anxiety or regret about how he once presented to the world. But he also remains obstinate. Rapping about how the expectations of speaking out politically leave him vexed, he reverts to his old perspective. "I feel like anything I say, dog, I'm screwing [expletive] up," he says, "So I just tell these Black babies, they should do what they want." The lesson is that there was no lesson. (The New York Times)

mausoleum

a building, especially a large and stately one, housing a tomb or tombs. (Online def)

interlace

cross or be crossed intricately together; interweave Patterns formed by intricately interwoven ribbons and bands. Usually associated with animal style works. Bands or portions of other motifs can be looped, braided, and knotted in complex geometric patterns, often to fill a space.

Singularly

in a remarkable or noticeable way

Odontology

in forensics, examination of bite marks and dental identification of corpses.

Drawing and Quartering/gallows

drawing and quartering capital punishment Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents drawing and quartering, part of the grisly penalty anciently ordained in England (1283) for the crime of treason. The full punishment for a traitor could include several steps. First he was drawn, that is, tied to a horse and dragged to the gallows. A so-called hurdle, or sledge, is sometimes mentioned in this context. Although such a device may have been a means of mercy, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (2nd ed., 1898; reissued 1996) states that it was more likely a way to deliver a live body to the hangman. The remainder of the punishment might include hanging (usually not to the death), usually live disemboweling, burning of the entrails, beheading, and quartering. This last step was sometimes accomplished by tying each of the four limbs to a different horse and spurring them in different directions. drawing and quartering: François Ravaillac drawing and quartering: François Ravaillac See all media Related Topics: capital punishment See all related content → The above-mentioned source cites an incident in 1238 in which a man attempting to assassinate the king was drawn, hanged, beheaded, and quartered. The first notorious sentence of drawing and quartering, however, was inflicted in 1283 on the Welsh prince David ap Gruffudd, whose punishment, one early source claims, was for myriad crimes. He was drawn for treason, hanged for homicide, disemboweled for sacrilege, and beheaded and quartered for plotting the king's death. Another infamous case is that of the Scottish patriot Sir William Wallace, who died in 1305. According to the same early source, Wallace was drawn for treason, hanged for robbery and homicide, disemboweled for sacrilege, beheaded as an outlaw, and quartered for "divers depredations." In 1803 Edward Marcus Despard and his six accomplices were drawn, hanged, and quartered for conspiring to assassinate George III. The sentence was last passed (though not carried out) upon two Irish Fenians in 1867, and it was officially abolished in 1870. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. gallows Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment gallows execution device Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents gallows, the apparatus for executing the sentence of death by hanging. It usually consists of two upright posts and a crossbeam but sometimes consists of a single upright with a beam projecting from the top. Molly Maguires; gallows Molly Maguires; gallows See all media Related Topics: capital punishment hanging gibbet See all related content → Megillat Esther Megillat Esther The Roman gallows was the cross, and, in the older translations of the Bible, gallows was used to describe the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (Ulfilas uses the term galga in his Gothic Testament). Another form of gallows in the Middle Ages was found at Montfaucon near Paris. This was a square structure formed of columns of masonry connected in each tier with crosspieces of wood. Beneath the gallows were pits into which the bodies fell after disarticulation by exposure to the weather. Jacques Callot: The Hangman's Tree Jacques Callot: The Hangman's Tree In the traditional usage of the gallows, the condemned stands on a platform or drop (introduced in England in 1760), the rope hangs from the crossbeam, and the noose at its end is placed around the neck. Hanging is achieved when the body drops several feet, the knot in the noose being so adjusted that the spinal cord is broken by the fall and death is instantaneous. Earlier versions of the process were far less merciful. Sometimes the condemned man stood in a cart, which was drawn away from under him; sometimes he had to mount a ladder, from which he was thrust by the hangman. Until 1832 prisoners in England were sometimes hanged by being drawn up from the platform by a heavy weight at the other end of the rope. Death in these cases was by strangulation. Until 1868, hangings were public affairs in Britain. After this date, and until the abolition of capital punishment in 1965, executions were private. The gallows were erected in a chamber or enclosed space set apart for the purpose inside the prison grounds. This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Graphite

graphite carbon Actions Alternate titles: black lead, plumbago By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jan 12, 2023 Article History Table of Contents graphite, also called plumbago or black lead, mineral consisting of carbon. Graphite has a layered structure that consists of rings of six carbon atoms arranged in widely spaced horizontal sheets. Graphite thus crystallizes in the hexagonal system, in contrast to the same element crystallizing in the octahedral or tetrahedral system as diamond. Such dimorphous pairs usually are rather similar in their physical properties, but not so in this case. Graphite is dark gray to black, opaque, and very soft (with a hardness of 1 1/2 on the Mohs scale), while diamond may be colourless and transparent and is the hardest naturally occurring substance. Graphite has a greasy feel and leaves a black mark, thus the name from the Greek verb graphein, "to write." For detailed physical properties of graphite, see native element (table). graphite graphite See all media Key People: Edward Goodrich Acheson Joseph Dixon Related Topics: carbon graphene native element allotrope cliftonite See all related content → Graphite is formed by the metamorphosis of sediments containing carbonaceous material, by the reaction of carbon compounds with hydrothermal solutions or magmatic fluids, or possibly by the crystallization of magmatic carbon. It occurs as isolated scales, large masses, or veins in older crystalline rocks, gneiss, schist, quartzite, and marble and also in granites, pegmatites, and carbonaceous clay slates. Small isometric crystals of graphitic carbon (possibly pseudomorphs after diamond) found in meteoritic iron are called cliftonite. More From Britannica carbon: Properties and uses Graphite is used in pencils, lubricants, crucibles, foundry facings, polishes, arc lamps, batteries, brushes for electric motors, and cores of nuclear reactors. It is mined extensively in China, India, Brazil, North Korea, and Canada. Graphite was first synthesized accidentally by Edward G. Acheson while he was performing high-temperature experiments on carborundum. He found that at about 4,150 °C (7,500 °F) the silicon in the carborundum vaporized, leaving the carbon behind in graphitic form. Acheson was granted a patent for graphite manufacture in 1896, and commercial production started in 1897. Since 1918 petroleum coke, small and imperfect graphite crystals surrounded by organic compounds, has been the major raw material in the production of 99 to 99.5 percent pure graphite. This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty. schreibersite Table of Contents Home Science Astronomy schreibersite mineral Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents schreibersite, mineral consisting of iron nickel phosphide [(Fe,Ni)3P] that is present in most meteorites containing nickel-iron metal. In iron meteorites, it often is found in the form of plates and as shells around nodules of troilite (an iron sulfide mineral). Rodlike schreibersite is called rhabdite and was once thought to be a separate mineral. The crystals of both varieties belong to the tetragonal system. For detailed physical properties, see native element (table). Related Topics: meteorite native element rhabdite See all related content → Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

a priori and a posteriori

from the earlier/from the later, two types of knowledge (Quizlet) A priori and a posteriori knowledge Table of Contents Since at least the 17th century, a sharp distinction has been drawn between a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge. The distinction plays an especially important role in the work of David Hume (1711-76) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). The distinction is easily illustrated by means of examples. Assume that the sentence "All Model T Fords are black" is true and compare it with the true sentence "All husbands are married." How would one come to know that those sentences are true? In the case of the second sentence, the answer is that one knows that it is true by understanding the meanings of the words it contains. Because husband means "married male," it is true by definition that all husbands are married. That kind of knowledge is a priori in the sense that one need not engage in any factual or empirical inquiry in order to obtain it. In contrast, just such an investigation is necessary in order to know whether the first sentence is true. Unlike the second sentence, simply understanding the words is not enough. Knowledge of the first kind is a posteriori in the sense that it can be obtained only through certain kinds of experience. The differences between sentences that express a priori knowledge and those that express a posteriori knowledge are sometimes described in terms of four additional distinctions: necessary versus contingent, analytic versus synthetic, tautological versus significant, and logical versus factual. These distinctions are normally spoken of as applying to "propositions," which may be thought of as the contents, or meanings, of sentences that can be either true or false. For example, the English sentence "Snow is white" and the German sentence "Schnee ist weiß" have the same meaning, which is the proposition "Snow is white." Necessary and contingent propositions A proposition is said to be necessary if it holds (is true) in all logically possible circumstances or conditions. "All husbands are married" is such a proposition. There are no possible or conceivable conditions in which this proposition is not true (on the assumption, of course, that the words husband and married are taken to mean what they ordinarily mean). In contrast, "All Model T Fords are black" holds in some circumstances (those actually obtaining, which is why the proposition is true), but it is easy to imagine circumstances in which it would not be true. To say, therefore, that a proposition is contingent is to say that it is true in some but not in all possible circumstances. Many necessary propositions, such as "All husbands are married," are a priori—though it has been argued that some are not (see below Necessary a posteriori propositions)—and most contingent propositions are a posteriori. Analytic and synthetic propositions A proposition is said to be analytic if the meaning of the predicate term is contained in the meaning of the subject term. Thus, "All husbands are married" is analytic, because part of the meaning of the term husband is "being married." A proposition is said to be synthetic if this is not so. "All Model T Fords are black" is synthetic, since "black" is not included in the meaning of Model T Ford. Some analytic propositions are a priori, and most synthetic propositions are a posteriori. Those distinctions were used by Kant to ask one of the most important questions in the history of epistemology—namely, whether a priori synthetic judgments are possible (see below Modern philosophy: Immanuel Kant). Tautological and significant propositions A proposition is said to be tautological if its constituent terms repeat themselves or if they can be reduced to terms that do, so that the proposition is of the form "a = a" ("a is identical to a"). Such propositions convey no information about the world, and, accordingly, they are said to be trivial, or empty of cognitive import. A proposition is said to be significant if its constituent terms are such that the proposition does provide new information about the world. The distinction between tautological and significant propositions figures importantly in the history of the philosophy of religion. In the so-called ontological argument for the existence of God, St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033/34-1109) attempted to derive the significant conclusion that God exists from the tautological premise that God is the only perfect being together with the premise that no being can be perfect unless it exists. As Hume and Kant pointed out, however, it is fallacious to derive a proposition with existential import from a tautology, and it is now generally agreed that from a tautology alone, it is impossible to derive any significant proposition. Tautological propositions are generally a priori, necessary, and analytic, and significant propositions are generally a posteriori, contingent, and synthetic. Logical and factual propositions A logical proposition is any proposition that can be reduced by replacement of its constituent terms to a proposition expressing a logical truth—e.g., to a proposition such as "If p and q, then p." The proposition "All husbands are married," for example, is logically equivalent to the proposition "If something is married and it is male, then it is married." In contrast, the semantic and syntactic features of factual propositions make it impossible to reduce them to logical truths. Logical propositions are often a priori, always necessary, and typically analytic. Factual propositions are generally a posteriori, contingent, and synthetic. Necessary a posteriori propositions Saul Kripke Saul Kripke The distinctions reviewed above have been explored extensively in contemporary philosophy. In one such study, Naming and Necessity (1972), the American philosopher Saul Kripke argued that, contrary to traditional assumptions, not all necessary propositions are known a priori; some are knowable only a posteriori. According to Kripke, the view that all necessary propositions are a priori relies on a conflation of the concepts of necessity and analyticity. Because all analytic propositions are both a priori and necessary, most philosophers have assumed without much reflection that all necessary propositions are a priori. But that is a mistake, argued Kripke. His point is usually illustrated by means of a type of proposition known as an "identity" statement—i.e., a statement of the form "a = a." Thus, consider the true identity statements "Venus is Venus" and "The morning star is the evening star." Whereas "Venus is Venus" is knowable a priori, "The morning star [i.e., Venus] is the evening star [i.e., Venus]" is not. It cannot be known merely through reflection, prior to any experience. In fact, the statement was not known until the ancient Babylonians discovered, through astronomical observation, that the heavenly body observed in the morning is the same as the heavenly body observed in the evening. Hence, "The morning star is the evening star" is a posteriori. But it is also necessary, because, like "Venus is Venus," it says only that a particular object, Venus, is identical to itself, and it is impossible to imagine circumstances in which Venus is not the same as Venus. Other types of propositions that are both necessary and a posteriori, according to Kripke, are statements of material origin, such as "This table is made of (a particular piece of) wood," and statements of natural-kind essence, such as "Water is H2O." It is important to note that Kripke's arguments, though influential, have not been universally accepted, and the existence of necessary a posteriori propositions continues to be a much-disputed issue. Description and justification Throughout its very long history, epistemology has pursued two different sorts of task: description and justification. The two tasks of description and justification are not inconsistent, and indeed they are often closely connected in the writings of contemporary philosophers. In its descriptive task, epistemology aims to depict accurately certain features of the world, including the contents of the human mind, and to determine what kinds of mental content, if any, ought to count as knowledge. An example of a descriptive epistemological system is the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). Husserl's aim was to give an exact description of the phenomenon of intentionality, or the feature of conscious mental states by virtue of which they are always "about," or "directed toward," some object. In his posthumously published masterpiece Philosophical Investigations (1953), Wittgenstein stated that "explanation must be replaced by description," and much of his later work was devoted to carrying out that task. Other examples of descriptive epistemology can be found in the work of G.E. Moore (1873-1958), H.H. Price (1899-1984), and Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), each of whom considered whether there are ways of apprehending the world that do not depend on any form of inference and, if so, what that apprehension consists of (see below Perception and knowledge). Closely related to that work were attempts by various philosophers, including Moritz Schlick (1882-1936), Otto Neurath (1882-1945), and A.J. Ayer (1910-89), to identify "protocol sentences"—i.e., statements that describe what is immediately given in experience without inference. Epistemology has a second, justificatory, or normative, function. Philosophers concerned with that function ask themselves what kinds of belief (if any) can be rationally justified. The question has normative import since it asks, in effect, what one ought ideally to believe. (In that respect, epistemology parallels ethics, which asks normative questions about how one ought ideally to act.) The normative approach quickly takes one into the central domains of epistemology, raising questions such as: "Is knowledge identical with justified true belief?," "Is the difference between knowledge and belief merely a matter of probability?," and "What is justification?" Knowledge and certainty Philosophers have disagreed sharply about the complex relationship between the concepts of knowledge and certainty. Are they the same? If not, how do they differ? Is it possible for someone to know that p without being certain that p, or to be certain that p without knowing that p? Is it possible for p to be certain without being known by someone, or to be known by someone without being certain? G.E. Moore G.E. Moore In his 1941 paper "Certainty," Moore observed that the word certain is commonly used in four main types of idiom: "I feel certain that," "I am certain that," "I know for certain that," and "It is certain that." He pointed out that there is at least one use of "I know for certain that p" and "It is certain that p" on which neither of those sentences can be true unless p is true. A sentence such as "I knew for certain that he would come, but he didn't," for example, is self-contradictory, whereas "I felt certain he would come, but he didn't" is not. On the basis of such considerations, Moore contended that "a thing can't be certain unless it is known." It is that fact that distinguishes the concepts of certainty and truth: "A thing that nobody knows may quite well be true but cannot possibly be certain." Moore concluded that a necessary condition for the truth of "It is certain that p" is that somebody should know that p. Moore is therefore among the philosophers who answer in the negative the question of whether it is possible for p to be certain without being known. Moore also argued that to say "A knows that p is true" cannot be a sufficient condition for "It is certain that p." If it were, it would follow that in any case in which at least one person did know that p is true, it would always be false for anyone to say "It is not certain that p," but clearly this is not so. If one says that it is not certain that Smith is still alive, one is not thereby committing to the statement that nobody knows that Smith is still alive. Moore is thus among the philosophers who would answer in the affirmative the question of whether it is possible for p to be known without being certain. Other philosophers have disagreed, arguing that if a person's knowledge that p is occurrent rather than merely dispositional, it implies certainty that p. Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Wittgenstein The most radical position on such matters was the one taken by Wittgenstein in On Certainty. Wittgenstein held that knowledge is radically different from certitude and that neither concept entails the other. It is thus possible to be in a state of knowledge without being certain and to be certain without having knowledge. For him, certainty is to be identified not with apprehension, or "seeing," but with a kind of acting. A proposition is certain, in other words, when its truth (and the truth of many related propositions) is presupposed in the various social activities of a community. As he said, "Giving grounds, justifying the evidence comes to an end—but the end is not certain propositions striking us immediately as true—i.e., it is not a kind of seeing on our part; it is our acting which lies at the bottom of the language game." More From Britannica John Locke: Knowledge The origins of knowledge Philosophers wish to know not only what knowledge is but also how it arises. That desire is motivated in part by the assumption that an investigation into the origins of knowledge can shed light on its nature. Accordingly, such investigations have been one of the major themes of epistemology from the time of the ancient Greeks to the present. Plato's Republic contains one of the earliest systematic arguments to show that sense experience cannot be a source of knowledge. The argument begins with the assertion that ordinary persons have a clear grasp of certain concepts—e.g., the concept of equality. In other words, people know what it means to say that a and b are equal, no matter what a and b are. But where does such knowledge come from? Consider the claim that two pieces of wood are of equal length. A close visual inspection would show them to differ slightly, and the more detailed the inspection, the more disparity one would notice. It follows that visual experience cannot be the source of the concept of equality. Plato applied such reasoning to all five senses and concluded that the corresponding knowledge cannot originate in sense experience. As in the Meno, Plato concluded that such knowledge is "recollected" by the soul from an earlier existence. It is highly significant that Plato should use mathematical (specifically, geometrical) examples to show that knowledge does not originate in sense experience; indeed, it is a sign of his perspicacity. As the subsequent history of philosophy reveals, mathematics provides the strongest case for Plato's view. Mathematical entities—e.g., perfect triangles, disembodied surfaces and edges, lines without thickness, and extensionless points—are abstractions, none of which exists in the physical world apprehended by the senses. Knowledge of such entities, it is argued, must therefore come from some other source. Innate and acquired knowledge The problem of the origins of knowledge has engendered two historically important kinds of debate. One of them concerns the question of whether knowledge is innate—i.e., present in the mind, in some sense, from birth—or acquired through experience. The matter has been important not only in philosophy but also, since the mid-20th century, in linguistics and psychology. The American linguist Noam Chomsky, for example, argued that the ability of young (developmentally normal) children to acquire any human language on the basis of invariably incomplete and even incorrect data is proof of the existence of innate linguistic structures. In contrast, the experimental psychologist B.F. Skinner (1904-90), a leading figure in the movement known as behaviourism, tried to show that all knowledge, including linguistic knowledge, is the product of learning through environmental conditioning by means of processes of reinforcement and reward. There also have been a range of "compromise" theories, which claim that humans have both innate and acquired knowledge. Rationalism and empiricism The second debate related to the problem of the origins of knowledge is that between rationalism and empiricism. According to rationalists, the ultimate source of human knowledge is the faculty of reason; according to empiricists, it is experience. The nature of reason is a difficult problem, but it is generally assumed to be a unique feature or faculty of the mind through which truths about reality may be grasped. Such a thesis is double-sided: it holds, on the one hand, that reality is in principle knowable and, on the other hand, that there is a human faculty (or set of faculties) capable of knowing it. One thus might define rationalism as the theory that there is an isomorphism (a mirroring relationship) between reason and reality that makes it possible for the former to apprehend the latter just as it is. Rationalists contend that if such a correspondence were lacking, it would be impossible for human beings to understand the world. Almost no philosopher has been a strict, thoroughgoing empiricist—i.e., one who holds that literally all knowledge comes from experience. Even John Locke (1632-1704), considered the father of modern empiricism, thought that there is some knowledge that does not derive from experience, though he held that it was "trifling" and empty of content. Hume held similar views. Empiricism thus generally acknowledges the existence of a priori knowledge but denies its significance. Accordingly, it is more accurately defined as the theory that all significant or factual propositions are known through experience. Even defined in that way, however, it continues to contrast significantly with rationalism. Rationalists hold that human beings have knowledge that is prior to experience and yet significant. Empiricists deny that that is possible. The term experience is usually understood to refer to ordinary physical sensations—or, in Hume's parlance, "impressions." For strict empiricists, that definition has the implication that the human mind is passive—a "tabula rasa" that receives impressions and more or less records them as they are. The conception of the mind as a tabula rasa posed serious challenges for empiricists. It raised the question, for example, of how one can have knowledge of entities, such as dragons, that cannot be found in experience. The response of classical empiricists such as Locke and Hume was to show that the complex concept of a dragon can be reduced to simple concepts (such as wings, the body of a snake, the head of a horse), all of which derive from impressions. On such a view, the mind is still considered primarily passive, but it is conceded that the mind has the power to combine simple ideas into complex ones. But there are further difficulties. Empiricists must explain how abstract ideas, such as the concept of a perfect triangle, can be reduced to elements apprehended by the senses when no perfect triangles are found in nature. They must also give an account of how general concepts are possible. It is obvious that one does not experience "humankind" through the senses, yet such concepts are meaningful, and propositions containing them are known to be true. The same difficulty applies to colour concepts. Some empiricists have argued that one arrives at the concept of red, for example, by mentally abstracting from one's experience of individual red items. The difficulty with that suggestion is that one cannot know what to count as an experience of red unless one already has a concept of red in mind. If it is replied that the concept of red and others like it are acquired when we are taught the word red in childhood, a similar difficulty arises. The teaching process, according to the empiricist, consists of pointing to a red object and telling the child "This is red." That process is repeated a number of times until the child forms the concept of red by abstracting from the series of examples shown. But such examples are necessarily very limited: they do not include even a fraction of the shades of red the child might ever see. Consequently, it is possible for the child to abstract or generalize from them in a variety of different ways, only some of which would correspond to the way the community of adult language users happens to apply the term red. How then does the child know which abstraction is the "right" one to draw from the examples? According to the rationalist, the only way to account for the child's selection of the correct concept is to suppose that at least part of it is innate. Skepticism Many philosophers, as well as many people studying philosophy for the first time, have been struck by the seemingly indecisive nature of philosophical argumentation. For every argument there seems to be a counterargument, and for every position a counterposition. To a considerable extent, skepticism is born of such reflection. Some ancient skeptics contended that all arguments are equally bad and, accordingly, that nothing can be proved. The contemporary American philosopher Benson Mates, who claimed to be a modern representative of that tradition, held that all philosophical arguments are equally good. Ironically, skepticism itself is a kind of philosophy, and the question has been raised whether it manages to escape its own criticisms. The answer to that question depends on what is meant by skepticism. Historically, the term has referred to a variety of different views and practices. But however it is understood, skepticism represents a challenge to the claim that human beings possess or can acquire knowledge. In giving even that minimal characterization, it is important to emphasize that skeptics and nonskeptics alike accept the same definition of knowledge, one that implies two things: (1) if A knows that p, then p is true, and (2) if A knows that p, then A cannot be mistaken (i.e., it is logically impossible that A is wrong. Thus, if people say that they know Smith will arrive at nine o'clock and Smith does not arrive at nine o'clock, then they must withdraw their claim to know. They might say instead that they thought they knew or that they felt sure, but they cannot rationally continue to insist that they knew if what they claimed to know turns out to be false. Given the foregoing definition of knowledge, in order for the skeptical challenge to succeed, it is not necessary to show that the person who claims to know that p is in fact mistaken; it is enough to show that a mistake is logically possible. That condition corresponds to the second of the two clauses mentioned above. If skeptics can establish that the clause is false in the case of a person's claim to know that p, they will have proved that the person does not know that p. Thus arises skeptics' practice of searching for possible counterexamples to ordinary knowledge claims. One variety of radical skepticism claims that there is no such thing as knowledge of an external world. According to that view, it is at least logically possible that one is merely a brain in a vat and that one's sense experiences of apparently real objects (e.g., the sight of a tree) are produced by carefully engineered electrical stimulations. Again, given the definition of knowledge above, that kind of argument is sound, because it shows that there is a logical gap between knowledge claims about the external world and the sense experiences that can be adduced as evidence to support them. No matter how much evidence of this sort one has, it is always logically possible that the corresponding knowledge claim is false. Avrum Stroll Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

nifty

very good, clever, or useful

ad infinitum

(adv.) endlessly; to infinity

Repose

(v.) to rest; lie; place; (n.) relaxation, peace of mind, calmness (Quizlet)

What stretches should I do after a workout?

6 Simple, Effective Stretches to Do After Your Workout Medically reviewed by Gregory Minnis, DPT, Physical Therapy — By Kathryn Watson on July 23, 2019 Benefits Static vs. dynamic stretching Post-workout stretches Safety Bottom line Stretching at the end of your workout can help boost your flexibility, reduce the risk of injury, and decrease muscle tension in your body. It can even help improve your performance the next time you work out. But when you're running low on time, stretching can sometimes take a backseat, and it may be tempting to skip it. Stretching after a workout doesn't have to take long, and you can find shortcuts by stretching several muscles groups at once. This article will look at six simple yet highly effective stretches you can add to the end of your workout. Benefits of stretching after a workout The benefits of stretching have been well-established. Here's a summary of the key ways that stretching after a workout can help you. Greater flexibility and range of motion Stretching can help increase the flexibility of your joints. Having greater flexibility helps you move around more easily, and it can also improve the range of motion in your joints. Range of motion is how far you can move a joint in a normal direction before it stops. Better posture and less back pain Tight, tense muscles can lead to poor posture. When you sit or stand incorrectly, you often put extra pressure and strain on your muscles. This, in turn, can lead to back pain and other types of musculoskeletal pain. According to a 2015 studyTrusted Source, combining a strength training routine with stretching exercises can help ease back and shoulder pain. It may also encourage proper alignment, which may help improve your posture. Stretching your muscles regularly may also help existing back injuries, and lower your risk for back injuries in the future. Less muscle tension and lower stress Stress is a part of our everyday lives. But sometimes, it can feel overwhelming. High levels of stress can cause your muscles to tense up, which can make you feel as if you're carrying stress in your body. Stretching muscles that feel tense and tight can help relax them. In turn, this may help lower your stress levels and help you feel calmer. Improved blood flow According to a 2018 animal studyTrusted Source, daily stretching can help improve your circulation. Increased blood flow to your muscles can help them heal more quickly after a workout. Better blood flow may also help prevent muscle soreness and stiffness after a workout. What's the difference between static and dynamic stretching? You may have heard about static and dynamic stretching and wondered how they differ. Static stretching involves stretches that you hold in place for a period of time, usually 20 to 60 seconds. In other words, you don't move while you're stretching a particular muscle or group of muscles. Static stretching is typically done at the end of your workout, once your muscles are warm and relaxed. Dynamic stretching, on the other hand, involves active movements. With this type of stretch, your joints and muscles go through a full range of motion. Dynamic stretching is usually done before a workout to help warm up your muscles and get your heart rate up. For instance, a runner may jog in place or pump their legs before starting a race. Summary Dynamic stretching involves active movements, like moving your arms or legs through a full range of motion. These stretches are usually done before you start a workout routine. Static stretching involves stretches that you hold in place, without movement. These stretches are done at the end of your workout, when your muscles are more relaxed. 6 great post-workout stretches to try When you stretch after your workout, try to focus on the muscles you used while you were exercising. You don't need any equipment, but a yoga mat or other cushioned surface can reduce the pressure on your joints and make your stretches more comfortable. 1. Lunging hip flexor stretch This stretch targets the muscles in your hips, quads, and glutes. Kneel down on your left knee. Keep your right knee bent, with your right foot flat on the floor in front of you. Lean forward and stretch your left hip out toward the floor. Hold this stretch for 30 to 60 seconds before switching legs and doing the opposite side. 2. Piriformis stretch Share on Pinterest This stretch targets your piriformis muscle that runs from the base of your spine to your thigh bone. This muscle can affect how well you move your hips, back, legs, and buttocks. Start by sitting on the floor with your legs extended out in front of you. Keeping your right leg flat on the floor, lift your left leg and place your left ankle on your right knee. Slightly arch your back and lean forward until a stretch is felt in your buttocks. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, then repeat with your right leg on your left knee. Repeat 2 or 3 times with each leg. 3. Cat-Cow stretch Share on Pinterest This stretch targets your back muscles. Begin with your hands and knees on the floor, with your spine in a neutral, relaxed alignment. Inhale as you let your belly sink toward the floor, pressing your chest forward. Lift your head, relax your shoulders, and begin to exhale. Round your spine upward, tucking in your tailbone and pressing your pubic bone forward. Relax your head toward the floor and repeat. Do this several times in the span of a minute, if you can. 4. Standing calf stretch Share on Pinterest As the name suggests, this stretch targets your calf muscles. Start by standing near a wall or chair for support, with one foot in front of the other, front knee slightly bent. Keep your back knee straight, both heels on the ground, and lean forward toward the wall or chair You should feel a stretch along the calf of your back leg. Try to hold this stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. Switch legs, and do at least 2 or 3 repetitions on each side. 5. Overhead triceps stretch Share on Pinterest This stretch targets your triceps and the muscles in your shoulders. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and roll your shoulders back and down to release any tension. Reach your right arm up to the ceiling, then bend your elbow to bring your right palm down toward the center of your back. Bring your left hand up to gently pull your right elbow downward. Hold this stretch for 20 to 30 seconds before switching arms. Repeat on both sides 2 or 3 times, attempting to get a deeper stretch with each repetition. 6. Standing bicep stretch Share on Pinterest This stretch targets your biceps as well as the muscles in your chest and shoulders. Stand up straight. Place your hands behind your back, and interlace your hands at the base of your spine. Straighten out your arms and turn your hands so your palms are facing down. Then, raise your arms as high as you can until you feel a stretch in your biceps and shoulders. Hold this stretch for 30 to 40 seconds. Repeat 2 to 3 times. Safety tips Don't stretch to the point of pain. You should feel mild tension as you stretch your muscles, never pain. If you feel pain, stop right away. Watch your posture. Pay attention to your posture with each stretch. Keep your chin up, spine straight, core engaged, and your shoulders aligned with your hips. Breathe through your stretches. Not only will breathing help you relieve stress and tension in your muscles, it may also improve the quality of your stretches and help you hold a stretch for longer. Start slowly. Don't try to do too much the first time you stretch after a workout. Start with just a few stretches, and add more repetitions and stretches as you get used to them. The bottom line Stretching after working out can help you reap many rewards. When you stretch your muscles after a workout, you're helping to give your body a jump-start on recovery, while also releasing stress and tension, and boosting the flexibility of your joints. If you're unsure about how to stretch safely, ask a certified personal trainer to show you how. And be sure to talk with a healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program, especially if you have an injury or a medical condition. Last medically reviewed on July 23, 2019 How we reviewed this article: SOURCES HISTORY Share this article READ THIS NEXT 6 Warmup Exercises to Help Boost Your Workout Warmup exercises are an important part of a workout routine. Dynamic warmups can help boost flexibility and performance, and reduce the chance of... READ MORE 6 Bicep Stretches to Add to Your Workout Medically reviewed by Gregory Minnis, DPT Add some bicep stretches to your upper-body workout to keep your arms flexible and ready to move. These six moves will get you started. READ MORE How and When to Include Static Stretching in Your Workout Medically reviewed by Gregory Minnis, DPT Static stretching is an important part of any workout routine. It is different to dynamic stretching and, although sometimes overlooked, it offers... READ MORE How to Do a Full-Body Stretching Routine Medically reviewed by Danielle Hildreth, RN, CPT When putting together a full-body stretching routine, aim to include at least one stretch for each major muscle group in your body in order to reap... READ MORE Stretching: 9 Benefits, Plus Safety Tips and How to Start Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS Stretching provides many benefits to your body and general well-being. Aim to stretch 5 to 10 minutes before and after exercise. Stretching can help... READ MORE The Science of Savasana: How Rest Can Benefit Any Kind of Workout Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS Savasana, or corpse pose in yoga, is a mindfulness meditation that can solidify the positive effects of the practice. Here's how to use Savasana after... READ MORE What Are Air Squats? Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS READ MORE What is Gyrotonic? Medically reviewed by Danielle Hildreth, RN, CPT Gyrotonic is a mind-body exercise modality that moves the body through circular sequences and patterns. But it's more than just a good stretch — it... READ MORE On Becoming a Mother Runner My postpartum journey back to the race course wasn't always pretty, but it taught me how much I was capable of... and helped me quiet my mind in the... READ MORE Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Exercise: Which Is Best for Weight Loss? 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GPS (global positioning system)

A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers. (Quizlet) an accurate worldwide navigational and surveying facility based on the reception of signals from an array of orbiting satellites. (Online def)

Pancreas

Any organs in the abdominal cavity with two roles. The first is an exocrine role: to produce digestive enzymes and bicarbonate, which are delivered to the small intestine via the pancreatic duct. The second is an endocrine role: to secrete insulin and glucagon into the bloodstream to help regulate blood glucose levels.

Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) analysis

As a collection of Marcus Aurelius's philosophical reflections, Meditations doesn't have a coherent plot structure, but each of its 12 books focuses on several recurrent themes—living a philosophical life, social relationships, nature and the gods, and mortality. In Book 1, Marcus Aurelius expresses his thanks to various influences in his life, like his family, his predecessor and adoptive father Antoninus Pius, and even the gods for imparting virtuous lessons and setting him on the path of philosophy. In Book 2, Marcus reflects on the difficulties of dealing with unpleasant people. It's important to remember that all people share in a divinely given, rational nature (the logos) and to refrain from getting angry at others. In fact, belief in divine Providence should shape one's life in every way, reminding them that every individual is part of a greater whole, thereby helping them reject bitterness and live with gratitude. Getting distracted by lesser things, like what's going on in other people's minds, only leads to unhappiness. Because life is so brief and subject to change, only philosophy can help a person control their thoughts, accept life, act justly, and die well. Book 3: The most important strategy for a person's soul, Marcus says, is to break down and rationally analyze everything that happens—to understand the true nature of things and events. To this end, a person should keep their philosophy handy, just as a doctor keeps his tools nearby in case of emergency. Book 4: A person's most important refuge is within the self. According to Marcus, if you choose not to be harmed by something that happens to you, you won't be harmed by it, because the mind can't be hurt by anything outside of it. In life, there's no such thing as "fortunate" or "unfortunate"—it's all in how people interpret what happens to them. Book 5: A person's most important work is "being human," experiencing things and practicing virtues in response. Even when you encounter obstacles, as in dealing with difficult people, you can adapt to them, work around them, and develop obstacles into opportunities for the soul's betterment. Book 6: Nature, inhabited by the divine logos, governs everything in harmony. Life may seem random, but that's no cause for anxiety. No matter what, everything will be absorbed back into the logos, and in the meantime, one's job remains the same: have a goal and live in harmony with nature as one pursues that goal. Book 7: Each individual is part of a larger whole and should strive to get along well with others. Marcus stresses that we're all human, we'll soon die, and we can afford to show each other compassion. In any case, another person's actions can't stop you from practicing virtues. Your soul's well-being is in your own hands. Book 8: Marcus advises to stay humble—you haven't fully attained a philosophical life. Don't complain or blame others. Just focus on building your own life out of the materials you've been given, one action at a time, and keeping your attention fixed on the present. Posthumous fame is a pointless goal. Book 9: Injustice, lying, and other misdeeds mock the gods, because we're designed to work together—all rational beings who share in the logos. Everything we do should ultimately be directed toward society's benefit, since individual good isn't distinct from that. Do the best you can, even if you fall short of your ideals and other people don't appreciate you. Book 10: Be satisfied with what you have, be unselfish, and set practical goals. Accept whatever happens, remembering that life is a training-ground for one's logos. A healthy mind isn't enslaved by worry or the need for others' approval. Book 11: From Marcus's perspective, the soul is responsible for making something of itself and accepting the inevitability of death calmly. Everyone has the potential to do this, and nobody else can prevent them from it. At the same time, developing good judgment and treating others justly takes a lifetime of practice. Book 12: A philosophical life is always attainable, but people get in their own way. The only solution is to forget the past, trust God for the future, and practice virtue. Don't be troubled by other people's opinions, which can't affect you, or their misbehavior, which is a result of their ignorance. Your own reactions are the only thing within your control. It's a privilege to have lived in a great city, and death is no disgrace. The length of one's life and the timing of one's exit are the gods' doing. It's Marcus' place to leave life gracefully. Meditations Themes The collection of short sayings titled Meditations comes from the personal journals of Marcus Aurelius over the years (161-180 C.E.) that he was Roman Emperor. Meditations isn't a formal philosophical treatise; it's a series of brief mental exercises designed to help Marcus think and act well—in other words, to live a good life according to the Stoic philosophy he favored. (Stoicism taught that human beings should always try to act reasonably and in harmony with nature. Since actions proceed from thoughts, training the mind was believed to help a person regulate their actions.) Through scattered sayings, it's possible to gather Marcus's outlook on the meaning of life. Marcus argues that life's purpose is simply to live well according to one's divine, or reason-directed, nature. In order to achieve this, one should train the mind to react reasonably—and ideally, virtuously—to all external circumstances. From Marcus's perspective, the point of life is to live well. For him, this means using one's short life to live as the gods intend: "At some point you have to recognize [...] from what [divine] source you spring; that there is a limit to the time assigned you, and if you don't use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return." Basically, a person is divinely created; life is short, so there is only a short time in which to train one's mind to live in accordance with one's god-given nature. Given that human life is brief, ever-changing, and unpredictable, what should people look to for guidance? Philosophy, Marcus asserts: "Which means making sure that the power within stays safe and free from assault [...] not dependent on anyone else's doing something or not doing it. [...] And above all, that it accepts death in a cheerful spirit[.]" One's mind, in other words, does not have to be controlled by external circumstances, and one should learn to accept both the duration of their life and all that fills their life, whether good or bad. According to Marcus, a person can live well by training their mind. Marcus's Stoic outlook holds that thoughts lead to actions: "The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts." What the mind dwells on thoroughly shapes a person's soul and thus their actions. Therefore, one's reactions to the world are governed by one's mind: "Nothing that goes on in anyone else's mind can harm you. [...] Then where is harm to be found? In your capacity to see it. Stop doing that and everything will be fine. Let the part of you that makes that judgment keep quiet[.]" If a person controls their mind's reactions to things, then a person can't ultimately be hurt by what's happening in someone else's mind or by any other external circumstance. Marcus goes on to suggest that because a person can control their own mind, they can, to a certain extent, be free from external circumstances. Attending to one's own mind enables a person to be content regardless of their circumstances. "If you can privilege your own mind [...] that should keep you clear of dramatics, of wailing and gnashing of teeth. You won't need solitude—or a cast of thousands, either," Marcus says. In other words, if one has learned to understand and control one's mind so that it isn't shaken by circumstances, a person doesn't have to retreat from society or be surrounded by peers in order to live well. No matter what happens, there is no reason that external circumstances should prevent a person from acting virtuously—demonstrating qualities like self-control, generosity, justice, and humility. Marcus writes, "So remember this principle when something threatens to cause you pain: the thing itself was no misfortune at all; to endure it and prevail is great good fortune." No matter what happens to a person, it's still within their power to act virtuously, and even if something bad happens, the so-called misfortune can be turned to one's advantage if they use the obstacle as an opportunity to cultivate the mind. Though Marcus's meditations are succinct, the sheer number of them—and the frequent repetition of many precepts—suggests that even if life's purpose is straightforward, that doesn't mean it's simple. Training the mind is a constant battle, in his view, and something that's only accomplished through dedicated practice. Relationships and The City Marcus Aurelius's Meditations are directed to himself alone—they're short excerpts from his personal journals, and he designed them to help him think and act well. But just because Marcus wrote his Meditations for himself, that doesn't mean he saw life as an individualistic endeavor. The Stoic belief that "we are what we think"—that one's actions proceed from their thoughts—also impacts the way people relate to those around them. Plus, Stoic thought holds that being connected to a healthy community is integral to living a good life (the goal of the practice of philosophy). This is because human nature is social; humans are meant to come together to form harmonious cities, which in turn make up the world as a whole. Because the health of the individual soul is tied to the community's health, individuals should strive to benefit one another. And in order to live together harmoniously, people should also be realistic about one another's behavior. Marcus suggests that people must be mindful of two things—collective obligations and individual limitations—to live well in a community, or city. According to Marcus's Stoic mindset, human beings are not meant to live in isolation; they share common life in a community, or "city," and should strive to mutually benefit one another. Human nature is "civic," or belongs to a community, so what's good for a person must also be good for the city and the world, and vice versa: "[My nature is] [r]ational and civic. My city and state are Rome [...] But as a human being? The world [is my city]. So for me, 'good' can only mean what's good for both communities." To live well, a human shouldn't regard oneself as an isolated individual; one must remember one's nature as a citizen of one's city and of the world, and determine what's "good" (what makes for a good life) in relationship to those entities. One way to know something is "good" is if it benefits one's fellow citizens. Marcus explains, "So by keeping in mind the whole I form a part of [...] I will do nothing selfish, but aim instead to join them, to direct my every action toward what benefits us all and to avoid what doesn't. If I do all that, then my life should go smoothly." Under normal circumstances, in other words, someone who strives to benefit one's peers and humanity as a whole can expect to live a harmonious life, with the individual's life contributing to and reflecting the larger whole. Because a person is part of a community, they consequently have certain obligations to others and shouldn't resist this: "You participate in a society by your existence. Then participate in its life through your actions [...] Any action not directed toward a social end [is] a source of dissension. Like the man in the Assembly—a faction to himself, always out of step with the majority." From Marcus's perspective, individualism is antisocial, not virtuous. A person should always avoid dissension and instead seek what promotes social harmony. People should be realistic about others' behavior, neither expecting too much nor letting others' behavior affect them too much. A person can try to persuade other people to act well, but there's only so much one can do: "Do your best to convince [other people]. But act on your own, if justice requires it. If met with force, then fall back on acceptance and peaceability. Use the setback to practice other virtues." In other words, Marcus advises against using other people's failures as an excuse for one's own actions; in fact, facing such setbacks is one of the best ways to practice virtue. No matter how other people act, recognizing common humanity (especially the limitations all human beings face) can promote harmony within relationships. Marcus writes, "To feel affection for people even when they make mistakes is uniquely human. You can do it, if you simply recognize: that they're human too [...] And, above all, that they haven't really hurt you. They haven't diminished your ability to choose." Another person's mistakes, that is, can't take away a person's ability to make one's own decisions—plus, all people face similar limitations, so it's worthwhile to be compassionate. Ultimately, even when keeping mutual limitations in mind and striving for compassion, it's not reasonable to expect virtue from bad people. Keep in mind, Marcus writes, "that to expect a bad person not to harm others is like expecting trees not to secrete juice, babies not to cry, horses not to neigh—the inevitable not to happen. [...] If you're still angry then get to work on that." There's no point in resenting a person for acting according to their nature; it only harms the one who's being resentful. Marcus's views of life in the city reflect his approaches to individual life. It's not possible to live harmoniously without paying attention to one's role within the community. At the same time, living with other people is complicated, and since we can't change others, we ultimately promote harmony by controlling our own reactions rather than having unrealistic expectations of others. Nature and the Gods In Marcus's Meditations, there isn't a strong distinction between nature and the divine. Everything in nature comes from the divine, and the divine is imbued in everything. This has direct implications for the way a person should live—especially if that person seeks to live according to Stoic teachings. Marcus credits the gods for laying out the conditions of his life in a favorable way: "I was shown clearly and often what it would be like to live as nature requires. The gods did all they could [...] to ensure that I could live as nature demands." The gods' arrangement of the circumstances of Marcus's life teach him how to live well. Based on his own experience of the gods' favor, Marcus argues that a good life depends on living in harmony with natural processes, which ultimately means living the way the gods have designed us to live. Marcus holds that nature is harmoniously designed and is itself divine. The gods have designed the world as a harmonious whole, and this shapes how people should react to events in their individual lives: "For there is a single harmony. Just as the world forms a single body comprising all bodies, so fate forms a single purpose, comprising all purposes. [...] Accept [whatever happens] because of what it leads to: the good health of the world[.]" In other words, the gods' concern is the harmony of all creation. This singleness of purpose should help a person accept whatever happens in their own lives as being an integral part of the harmony of the whole. One should also strive to live in harmony with nature because it makes them what they are: "I walk through what is natural, until the time comes to sink down and rest. To entrust my last breath to the source of [...] my father's seed, of my mother's blood, of my nurse's milk. Of my daily food and drink through all these years." One's conception, birth, growth, sustenance—everything that forms and shapes a person—is part of nature. When a person seeks to live in harmony with nature, they live their life according to the divine design. Because nature is harmoniously designed, it's possible to discern the gods' pattern for human behavior. For example, Marcus writes, "Injustice is a kind of blasphemy. Nature designed rational beings [...] to help—not harm—one another [...] To transgress [nature's] will, then, is to blaspheme against the oldest of the gods." Mocking the gods is not so much a matter of saying something offensive about them as living out of accord with other created beings—ignoring the clear, god-designed pattern of nature. Behaving virtuously is acting in accordance with divinely created nature. Marcus explains, "Someone like that—someone who [strives to become virtuous]—is a kind of priest, a servant of the gods [...] an athlete in the greatest of all contests—the struggle not to be overwhelmed by anything that happens." Someone who pursues virtue is not only living according to the gods' design, but enjoys a kind of personal communion with the gods in daily life. Walking in harmony and communion with the gods—by living according to nature's pattern—even helps a person to die well. Marcus observes that living things are constantly undergoing change: "If it doesn't hurt the individual elements [of a living thing] to change continually into one another, why are people afraid of all of them changing and separating? It's a natural thing. And nothing natural is evil." Because nature isn't evil (nature was harmoniously designed by the gods), there is no evil to be feared in natural transformations, including death. Marcus concludes that even if it turned out that life is random and not divinely directed, that doesn't fundamentally change anything about what's expected of a person. And in case life is directed by God, then a person should try to live in such a way that they're "worthy of God's aid. If it's confusion and anarchy, then be grateful that on this raging sea you have a mind to guide you." Marcus himself has faith that, indeed, "Providence" directs a harmonious world. However, even if a person doesn't share Marcus's belief in the gods' design behind natural patterns, that person can still use their mind to live according to nature, and thereby live well. Mortality and Dying Well Judging by how many of his sayings focus on death, it's clear that Marcus Aurelius made a special effort to train his mind to face this inevitability. It's not surprising—mortality would have haunted any person living in the ancient Roman Empire, but it was especially pressing for Marcus, as he led armies into battle, survived plague outbreaks, and faced the dangers of high-profile public service. It's also not surprising that Marcus's basic Stoic principles—living reasonably and according to nature—shaped his thoughts about mortality and death. In fact, these principles helped him to consider death as just another challenge: like everything else in life, death is a part of nature; therefore, a person can reason about it. Based on these principles, Marcus argues that dying is a natural process, and since dying in harmony with nature and the gods don't deprive a person of anything that's ultimately important, death shouldn't be feared or resisted. Dying is natural, and therefore, like anything else in life, a person can use their reason when considering death. Like anything else in life, Marcus writes, dying can be considered logically: "if you look at it in the abstract and break down your imaginary ideas of it by logical analysis, you realize that it's nothing but a process of nature, which only children can be afraid of. (And not only a process of nature but a necessary one.)" By looking at dying rationally, rather than being controlled by imagination, one can see that dying isn't a fearful thing. Not only is death necessary, dying is as natural to the soul as birth to the body: "So this is how a thoughtful person should await death [...] simply viewing it as one of the things that happen to us. Now you anticipate the child's emergence from its mother's womb; that's how you should await the hour when your soul will emerge from its compartment." Because death is such a natural part of life—other natural processes even prepare a person for it—it shouldn't create undue anxiety. Death is part of the gods' governance of the whole world, so one can react to it reasonably. Marcus explains, "The time and stopping point are set by nature [...] [Death is] a good thing—scheduled by the world, promoting it, promoted by it. This is how we become godlike—following God's path, and reason's goals." By recognizing that nature governs life, and that death is part of nature's harmonious goals, one can maintain a reasonable attitude about death. Acting reasonably (in accordance with nature) means that no matter what, one is staying on a divine path. Not only is death natural and therefore subject to human reason, it's also inevitable, so a person can only control one's reaction to its arrival. A person can't control the predetermined length of their life, but they can anticipate its eventual end and prepare for it. "Five years or a hundred—what's the difference? [...] the length [was] fixed by the power that directed your creation, and now directs your dissolution. Neither was yours to determine. So make your exit with grace—the same grace shown to you," Marcus writes. A person cannot determine their length of life, but no matter the timing of their "exit," they can choose to react to death with "grace," thankful for the time they've been granted. In the end, death's inevitability doesn't stop a person from pursuing what's most important—acting in harmony with God: "What is it you want? To keep on breathing? What about feeling? desiring? growing? [...] But if you can do without them all, then continue to follow the logos [the divine reason within a person] and God. [...] To prize those other things [...] is an obstacle." Marcus suggests that though people get hung up on living, desiring indefinite life (in its current form) isn't necessarily reasonable. He further implies that death doesn't end a person's ability to follow God by following reason, so it's short-sighted to focus on the things that do end with death. Marcus repeatedly comes back to the subject of death in Meditations. Though one could read this as a sign of Marcus's personal anxiety, it also makes sense that for him, death was simply the ultimate example of the daily battle everyone faces—to control one's thoughts in order to act, as much as humanly possible, in harmony with nature. (Lit Charts)

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Forbidden; strictly prohibited [especially by an authority].

Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, commonly known as the Meditations, is the most significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. Successful military leader, but had issues with the Germanic tribes. Was known as a "philosopher king". Died of illness at age 58. Last of the "Good Emperors", Wrote "Meditations" personal reflections of his beliefs, End of the Pax Romana (Quizlet) Marcus Aurelius emperor of Rome Actions Alternate titles: Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Marcus Annius Verus By John Anthony Crook Last Updated: Jan 3, 2023 Article History Table of Contents Top Questions Why is Marcus Aurelius important? What was Marcus Aurelius's family like? How did Marcus Aurelius become emperor? What did Marcus Aurelius write? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Marcus Aurelius, in full Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, original name (until 161 CE) Marcus Annius Verus, (born April 26, 121 CE, Rome [Italy]—died March 17, 180, Vindobona [Vienna, Austria] or Sirmium, Pannonia), Roman emperor (161-180), best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius has symbolized for many generations in the West the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius See all media Born: April 26, 121 Rome Italy Died: March 17, 180 (aged 58) Sremska Mitrovica Vienna Serbia? Austria? Title / Office: emperor (161-180), Roman Empire consul (161), Roman Empire consul (145), Roman Empire consul (140), Roman Empire ... (Show more) Notable Works: "Meditations" Notable Family Members: spouse Annia Galeria Faustina son Commodus See all related content → Youth and apprenticeship Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius When he was born, his paternal grandfather was already consul for the second time and prefect of Rome, which was the crown of prestige in a senatorial career; his father's sister was married to the man who was destined to become the next emperor and whom he himself would in due time succeed; and his maternal grandmother was heiress to one of the most massive of Roman fortunes. Marcus thus was related to several of the most prominent families of the new Roman establishment, which had consolidated its social and political power under the Flavian emperors (69-96), and, indeed, the ethos of that establishment is relevant to his own actions and attitudes. The governing class of the first age of the Roman Empire, the Julio-Claudian, had been little different from that of the late Republic: it was urban Roman (despising outsiders), extravagant, cynical, and amoral. The new establishment, however, was largely of municipal and provincial origin—as were its emperors—cultivating sobriety and good works and turning more and more to piety and religiosity. The child Marcus was thus clearly destined for social distinction. How he came to the throne, however, remains a mystery. In 136 the emperor Hadrian (reigned 117-138) inexplicably announced as his eventual successor a certain Lucius Ceionius Commodus (henceforth Lucius Aelius Caesar), and in that same year young Marcus was engaged to Ceionia Fabia, the daughter of Lucius Aelius. Early in 138, however, Lucius Aelius died, and later, after the death of Hadrian, the engagement was annulled. Hadrian then adopted Titus Aurelius Antoninus (the husband of Marcus's aunt) to succeed him as the emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned 138-161), arranging that Antoninus should adopt as his sons two young men—one the son of Lucius Aelius and the other Marcus, whose name was then changed to Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus. Marcus thus was marked out as a future joint emperor at the age of just under 17, though, as it turned out, he was not to succeed until his 40th year. It is sometimes assumed that in Hadrian's mind both Lucius Aelius and Antoninus Pius were merely to be "place warmers" for one or both of these youths. The long years of Marcus's apprenticeship under Antoninus are illuminated by the correspondence between him and his teacher Fronto. Although the main society literary figure of the age, Fronto was a dreary pedant whose blood ran rhetoric, but he must have been less lifeless than he now appears, for there is genuine feeling and real communication in the letters between him and both of the young men. It was to the credit of Marcus, who was intelligent as well as hardworking and serious-minded, that he grew impatient with the unending regime of advanced exercises in Greek and Latin declamation and eagerly embraced the Diatribai (Discourses) of a religious former slave, Epictetus, an important moral philosopher of the Stoic school. Henceforth, it was in philosophy that Marcus was to find his chief intellectual interest as well as his spiritual nourishment. Britannica Quiz The Roman Empire Meanwhile, there was work enough to do at the side of the untiring Antoninus, with learning the business of government and assuming public roles. Marcus was consul in 140, 145, and 161. In 145 he married his cousin, the emperor's daughter Annia Galeria Faustina, and in 147 the imperium and tribunicia potestas, the main formal powers of emperorship, were conferred upon him; henceforth, he was a kind of junior coemperor, sharing the intimate counsels and crucial decisions of Antoninus. (His adoptive brother, nearly 10 years his junior, was brought into official prominence in due time.) On March 7, 161, at a time when the brothers were jointly consuls (for the third and the second time, respectively), their father died. Roman emperor The transition was smooth as far as Marcus was concerned; already possessing the essential constitutional powers, he stepped automatically into the role of full emperor (and his name henceforth was Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus). At his own insistence, however, his adoptive brother was made coemperor with him (and bore henceforth the name Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus). There is no evidence that Lucius Verus had much of a following, so a ruthless rival could have easily disposed of him, though to leave him in being as anything less than emperor might have created a focus for disaffection. It is most probable, however, that Marcus's conscience impelled him to carry out loyally what he believed to have been the plan by which alone he himself had eventually reached the purple. For the first time in history, the Roman Empire had two joint emperors of formally equal constitutional status and powers, but, although the achievement of Lucius Verus has suffered by comparison with the paragon Marcus, it seems probable that the serious work of government was done throughout by Marcus and was the more arduous in that it was done during most of his reign in the midst of fighting frontier wars and combating the effects of plague and demoralization. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now For constructive statesmanship or the initiation of original trends in civil policy, Marcus had little time or energy to spare. The field most congenial to him seems to have been the law. Numerous measures were promulgated and judicial decisions made, clearing away harshnesses and anomalies in the civil law, improving in detail the lot of the less-favoured—slaves, widows, minors—and giving recognition to claims of blood relationship in the field of succession (see inheritance). Marcus's personal contribution, however, must not be overstated. The pattern of ameliorating legislation was inherited rather than novel, and the measures were refinements rather than radical changes in the structure of law or society; Marcus was not a great legislator, but he was a devoted practitioner of the role of ombudsman. Moreover, there was nothing specifically Stoic about this legal activity, and in one respect the age of Antoninus Pius and Marcus signalizes a retrogression in the relationship of law to society, for under them there either began or was made more explicit a distinction of classes in the criminal law—honestiores and humiliores—with two separate scales of punishments for crime, harsher and more degrading for the humiliores at every point. Marcus's claim to statesmanship has come under critical attack in numerous other ways—for example, in the matter of Christian persecution. Although Marcus disliked the Christians, there was no systematic persecution of them during his reign. Their legal status remained as it had been under Trajan (reigned 98-117) and Hadrian: Christians were ipso facto punishable but not to be sought out. This incongruous position did little harm in times of general security and prosperity, but when either of these were threatened, the local population might denounce Christians, a governor might be forced to act, and the law, as the central authority saw it, must then run its course. The martyrdoms at Lyon in 177 were of this nature, and, though it appears that Christian blood flowed more profusely in the reign of Marcus the philosopher than it had before, he was not an initiator of persecution. In 161 Syria was invaded by the Parthians, a major power to the east. The war that followed (162-166) was nominally under the command of Verus, though its successful conclusion, with the overrunning of Armenia and Mesopotamia, was the work of subordinate generals, notably Gaius Avidius Cassius. The returning armies brought back with them a plague, which raged throughout the empire for many years and—together with the German invasion—fostered a weakening of morale in minds accustomed to the stability and apparent immutability of Rome and its empire. In 167 or 168 Marcus and Verus together set out on a punitive expedition across the Danube, and behind their backs a horde of German tribes invaded Italy in massive strength and besieged Aquileia, on the crossroads at the head of the Adriatic. The military precariousness of the empire and the inflexibility of its financial structure in the face of emergencies now stood revealed; desperate measures were adopted to fill the depleted legions, and imperial property was auctioned to provide funds. Marcus and Verus fought the Germans off with success, but in 169 Verus died suddenly, and doubtless naturally, of a stroke. Three years of fighting were still needed, with Marcus in the thick of it, to restore the Danubian frontier, and three more years of campaigning in Bohemia were enough to bring the tribes beyond the Danube to peace, at least for a time. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius A more intimate contact with the thoughts pursued by Marcus during the troubling involvements of his reign, though not what would have been historically most valuable, his day-to-day political thoughts, can be acquired by reading the Meditations. To what extent he intended them for eyes other than his own is uncertain; they are fragmentary notes, discursive and epigrammatic by turn, of his reflections in the midst of campaigning and administration. In a way, it seems, he wrote them to nerve himself for his daunting responsibilities. Strikingly, though they comprise the innermost thoughts of a Roman, the Meditations were written in Greek—to such an extent had the union of cultures become a reality. In many ages these thoughts have been admired; the modern age, however, is more likely to be struck by the pathology of them, their mixture of priggishness and hysteria. Marcus was forever proposing to himself unattainable goals of conduct, forever contemplating the triviality, brutishness, and transience of the physical world and of humanity in general and himself in particular; otherworldly, yet believing in no other world, he was therefore tied to duty and service with no hope, even of everlasting fame, to sustain him. Sickly all through his life and probably plagued with a chronic ulcer, he took daily doses of a drug; the suggestion has been made that the apocalyptic imagery of passages in the Meditations betrays the addict. More certain and more important is the point that Marcus's anxieties reflect, in an exaggerated manner, the ethos of his age. The Meditations, the thoughts of a philosopher-king, have been considered by many generations one of the great books of all times. Although they were Marcus's own thoughts, they were not original. They are basically the moral tenets of Stoicism, learned from Epictetus: the cosmos is a unity governed by an intelligence, and the human soul is a part of that divine intelligence and can therefore stand, if naked and alone, at least pure and undefiled, amid chaos and futility. One or two of Marcus's ideas, perhaps more through lack of rigorous understanding than anything else, diverged from Stoic philosophy and approached that Platonism that was itself then turning into the Neoplatonism into which all pagan philosophies, except Epicureanism, were destined to merge. But he did not deviate so far as to accept the comfort of any kind of survival after death. At the same time that Marcus was securing his trans-Danubian frontiers, Egypt, Spain, and Britain were troubled by rebellions or invasions. By 175, the general Avidius Cassius, who earlier had served under Verus, had virtually become a prefect of all of the eastern provinces, including control of the important province of Egypt. In that year, Avidius Cassius took the occasion of a rumour of Marcus's death to proclaim himself emperor. Marcus made peace in the north with those tribes not already subjugated and prepared to march against Avidius, but the rebel general was assassinated by his own soldiers. Marcus used the opportunity to make a tour of pacification and inspection in the East, visiting Antioch, Alexandria, and Athens—where, like Hadrian, he was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries (though that esoteric religious cult does not seem to have impinged at all upon his philosophical views). During the journey the empress Faustina, who had been with her husband in the Danubian wars as well, died. Great public honours were bestowed upon her in life and in death, and in his Meditations Marcus spoke of her with love and admiration. The ancient sources accuse her of infidelity and disloyalty (complicity, in fact, with Avidius Cassius), but the charges are implausible. Commodus Commodus In 177 Marcus proclaimed his 16-year-old son, Commodus, joint emperor. Together they resumed the Danubian wars. Marcus was determined to pass from defense to offense and to an expansionist redrawing of Rome's northern boundaries. His determination seemed to be winning success when, in 180, he died at his military headquarters, having just had time to commend Commodus to the chief advisers of the regime. Legacy Marcus's choice of his only surviving son as his successor has always been viewed as a tragic paradox. Commodus (reigned as sole emperor 180-192) turned out badly, though two things must be borne in mind: emperors are good and bad in the ancient sources according as they did or did not satisfy the senatorial governing class, and Commodus's rapid calling off of the northern campaigns may well have been wiser than his father's obsessive and costly expansionism. But those who criticize Marcus for ensuring the accession of Commodus are usually under the misapprehension that Marcus was reverting to crude dynasticism after a long and successful period of "philosophic" succession by the best available man. This is historically untenable. Marcus had no choice in the matter: if he had not made Commodus his successor, he would have had to order him to be put to death. Marcus was a statesman, perhaps, but one of no great calibre; nor was he really a sage. In general, he is a historically overrated figure, presiding in a bewildered way over an empire beneath the gilt of which there already lay many a decaying patch. But his personal nobility and dedication survive the most remorseless scrutiny; he counted the cost obsessively, but he did not shrink from paying it. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Do parents do a good job showing affection to kids?

Psychology Today Search Robert W. Firestone Ph.D. Robert W. Firestone Ph.D. The Human Experience RELATIONSHIPS 8 Reasons Parents Fail to Love Their Kids Issues of the past, present, and even future can limit parental love. Posted October 7, 2015 Reviewed by Lybi Ma KEY POINTS It's possible for parents to be insensitive, misattuned, or harmful to their children while earnestly believing that they love them. In general, people who do not really like themselves are incapable of genuinely loving other people, especially their children. Needy parents will cause their children to have feelings of being trapped or suffocated by close relationships in later life. lightwavemedia/Shutterstock Source: lightwavemedia/Shutterstock Parental love enhances the well-being and development of children. As such, "love" would be all that is nurturing and supportive of the evolution of a child's unique personality. Conversely, it would be a distortion to define as "loving" those responses that are in any way detrimental to the child's psychological growth, cause painful wounds to the child's psyche, or predispose a lifetime of maladaptation and pain. article continues after advertisement Parental love includes genuine expressions of warmth—a smile or friendly look that conveys empathy and good humor; physical affection; respectful, considerate treatment; tenderness; a willingness to be a real person with the child as opposed to acting the role of "mother" or "father"; and a sensitive attunement and responsiveness to the child. Attuned parents have the ability to adjust the intensity and emotional tone of their responses to match their child's feeling state and needs. During infancy, attuned interactions between a baby and its mother (or primary caregiver) are especially important because they provide the baby with the environment necessary for learning how to regulate emotions and for developing empathy. In my observation of families, I have noted countless examples of well-meaning parents engaging in behavior that is insensitive, misattuned, or harmful to their children, while earnestly believing that they love them and have their best interests at heart. These parents are telling the truth, although on a defensive level when they tell their adult children who have been emotionally hurt that they loved them and did the best they could for them. It's true: They did the best that they were capable of, but more often than not, they simply weren't able to really see their child as a separate person and meet his or her needs. No matter how well-intentioned, many people are unfortunately not prepared for the task of raising children. There are eight reasons why it's often difficult for parents to love their children. 1. Many parents have a negative self-image which they unwittingly extend to their children. If they cannot love themselves or have developed a negative conception of themselves and their bodies, and extend this shame and negativity to their productions, they cannot pass on love and tenderness to this remarkable creation of theirs. In general, people who do not really like themselves are incapable of genuinely loving other people, especially their children. In fact, they are more likely to project their negative feelings onto others, and there is no better dumping ground for our negative perceptions of ourselves than our children. article continues after advertisement 2. Parents who are undeveloped or immature experience their children as an unwanted, intimidating dependency load. They find it threatening to bear the responsibility and extensive care that the baby and developing child require and may even come to resent their offspring. 3. Many people find it difficult or intolerable to accept love—in particular, the simple direct loving expressions of children. If the parents were hurt in their developmental years, they will have problems accepting love and intimacy from their children. Faced with the emotional pain that it causes them, parents will unconsciously distance themselves from their children. 4. Parents have unresolved trauma in their own lives. If so, they will tend to be misattuned to their children, especially when their children approach periods in their lives that were traumatic for the parent. They may react by becoming rejecting, or they may overcompensate. Neither reaction is appropriate to, or constructive for, the child. For example, a parent who cannot bear to be reminded of his own childhood sadness may be vindictive or punishing to his children when they cry. Another parent may suppress her children's pain in just the opposite way—by over-comforting and over-protecting them. THE BASICS Why Relationships Matter Find a therapist to strengthen relationships In any case, the child is always more expendable than the parent's defense system. The more self‑protective a person is, the more he or she will act out his or her defenses on the child and progressively fail to perceive the child correctly and encourage healthy development. 5. Having children reminds parents that time is passing and tends to increase their death anxiety. article continues after advertisement This can cause tension and even resentment in the parent and a self-protective, defensive retreat from feeling that is directly or indirectly hurtful to their children. 6. Parents tend to use their children as immortality projects, which has a destructive effect on their offspring. In order to serve this purpose, children must replicate their parent's attitudes and choices. If they differ, their independent actions are misinterpreted as defiant or rebellious. Parents try to impose sameness on their children because they can't live on through their children if the children are different from them. For example, if you are religious and your child is a non-believer; or if you are a Democrat and your child is a Republican, your child no longer serves that necessary function. Obviously, impressing sameness is highly damaging to children. Each child is genetically different and has a unique agenda and personal destiny. 7. Parents' unfulfilled primitive hunger for love and care from their childhood causes them, in turn, to focus these strong desires on their children. They confuse the powerful feelings of longing and possession they have toward their offspring for genuine feelings of love. Children who are caressed by a hungry and needy parent will not feel "seen," understood, or secure, but instead will become refractory to physical touch. The "loving" fingers of the immature parent are felt as possessive, sucking tentacles, which drain the children rather than nurture them. This type of parent will cause children to have feelings of being trapped or suffocated by close relationships in later life. As adults, they may experience affection as physical or psychological pain. RELATIONSHIPS ESSENTIAL READS Why Certain People Can't Stop Talking Unlocking the Secrets of Mating Using an Evolutionary Lens 8. Due to inadequate or problematic parenting styles, many children develop traits that are unlikeable or intolerable. They may become unruly, defiant, disobedient, obnoxious, demanding, hostile, or generally unpleasant. Even though they have been a primary cause of these behaviors, parents find it difficult to love or even like a child who exhibits these attributes. article continues after advertisement To summarize: Almost all parents feel that they love their children. But what parents feel internally must have an external component in actions that are loving in order to have a positive effect on their children. Parents' good intentions are not a substitute for nurturing love, which can only be provided by a psychologically healthy and independent adult. Both the intention and the capacity to love are necessary to sustain the small child in his or her growth toward maturity. The assumption that parents, especially mothers, have a "natural" love for their child is a fundamental part of our belief system—and the core of family life and society. Very often this myth has an adverse effect, though, in that it leads to a failure to challenge negative behaviors within family life. It also intensifies parents' guilt. These guilt feelings further contaminate the situation for those individuals who may be unable, because of their own upbringing, to provide their children with the necessary love and care they need. Children do need and deserve love, and we must provide it or they will suffer emotional pain. Recent research in the neurosciences has shown that the way parents interact (or fail to interact) with children becomes hardwired in their children's brains, often before they are capable of formulating words to describe what they are experiencing. As they grow older, children find numerous ways of defending themselves in order to relieve or numb their pain. In the process of dulling their pain, they close off many aspects of themselves and, to varying degrees, become emotionally deadened. Indeed, it would be better for all concerned if the illusion of unconditional parental love were withdrawn from the child‑rearing scene. It serves no constructive purpose for parents to conceal their inadequacies from a child. An honest acceptance of their deficiencies would enable both parent and child to cope with reality devoid of additional defensive pressure. With a lessening of this pressure and the subsequent relaxation for both parent and child, they may even regain genuine loving feelings and regard for one another. Lastly, children whose parents have, for the most part, resolved their issues of trauma and loss from the past have a better chance. In Compassionate Child-Rearing, I described many parents who came to understand and feel for what had happened to them as children. As a result, they were able to develop more compassion for their past, and for their present-day limitations. Regaining feeling for themselves seemed to be the key element that enabled them to enjoy closer, more sensitively attuned interactions with their children and altered their child-rearing practices in a more loving, positive direction. article continues after advertisement About the Author Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D., is the author of The Fantasy Bond, Voice Therapy, Compassionate Child Rearing and many other books and articles. (Psychology Today)

What are some financial aid myths according to Harper?

Skip to contentHigh Contrast Search Harper WebsiteSearch Harper Website - Submit Chat Live Icon CHAT LIVE MyHarper Student Portal Icon MYHARPER Blackboard Icon BLACKBOARD Events Calendar Icon EVENTS Library Icon LIBRARY Harper Intranet Portal Icon HIP PORTAL ABOUT US ACADEMICS BUSINESS SERVICES COMMUNITY EDUCATION GET STARTED PAYING FOR COLLEGE REGISTER STUDENT LIFE THE UNIVERSITY CENTER Lesser Button NavigationLogoHarper Stories Harper Stories https://www.harpercollege.edu/_resources/images/place-holder-images/finances.jpg Harper Home Harper Stories Posts Financial Aid: Myths vs Facts Financial Aid: Myths vs Facts Harper Logo - Black Text on White Background Harper College October 19, 2021 October 19, 2021 Gain an accurate understanding of the financial aid application process by taking a few moments to separate myth from fact! Myth: As a community college, Harper College does not offer financial aid. Fact: Nearly 11,000 students were awarded more than $26 million in scholarships, grants and tuition waivers through Harper College in 2020-2021. Myth: I don't have time for the FAFSA. I heard it takes a long time to complete. Fact: Generally, the FAFSA only takes 30 minutes to complete. Myth: The FAFSA is too hard to complete because I don't know anything about taxes. Facts: The FAFSA offers tips that guide you through the taxes. There is an import feature called the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) that allows most applicants to import their tax information directly from the IRS. Harper College staff can help you complete your FAFSA. Myth: Scholarships are only for super-star athletes and straight-A students. Facts: Not at all! All students should apply and see if they qualify. There are all kinds of scholarships and many only require a minimum GPA of 2.0 to apply. Harper's Donor Sponsored Scholarships are provided by the college's Educational Foundation and can be awarded based on the detail and quality of your essays as well as each scholarship's criteria. Myth: I am only earning a certificate, so I don't qualify for financial aid. Fact: While it's true that some certificate programs are not eligible for financial aid, MOST certificate programs are eligible. Myth: My parents are not U.S. citizens and don't have Social Security Numbers (SSNs) so I can't complete the FAFSA. Fact: Your parents' citizenship status does not affect your eligibility for federal student aid. In fact, the FAFSA form doesn't even ask about your parents' citizenship status. Parents without SSNs should enter zeroes (000-00-0000) in the SSN fields on the FAFSA. Myth: I can't get student loans because I have bad credit. Fact: For Federal Direct Loans, your credit is not taken into consideration. A credit check is required for a parent(s) taking out a Federal Direct PLUS Loan. If you want to borrow money from a private source (such as a bank), a credit check most likely will be run. Myth: My parents make too much money, so I won't qualify for financial aid. Facts: All students should complete a FAFSA to determine if they qualify for financial aid or not. You won't know for sure if you don't apply. Many scholarships require your FAFSA information. Most colleges and universities have institutional funds that require a FAFSA, whether or not the scholarship is based on financial need. Myth: I support myself, so I don't have to include my parent's information on the FAFSA form. Fact: When completing the FAFSA, you will answer 10 questions to determine if you need to include your parent's information or not. Just because you support yourself does not mean they aren't required to be listed. Myth: I didn't receive financial aid last year so why waste time applying this year? Fact: Each FAFSA uses a different tax year. You should apply every year to see if you qualify. Myth: Since my older sibling received a full Pell Grant, I will too. Facts: Each student is different because a student's own personal income is part of the calculation and each sibling's cost of attendance is different. Remember: Every student needs to complete their own FAFSA to determine eligibility! Myth: What's the rush? I can apply for financial aid when I get around to it. Facts: Generally, the FAFSA only takes 30 minutes to complete, so why wait? There are deadlines that you must meet to qualify for aid. Apply as early as you can to maximize the amount of aid you receive. Some sources of funding are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. You could miss out if you wait too long. Myth: I am not eligible for grants, so I cannot attend college. Fact: There are so many funding opportunities in addition to grants. Remember, scholarships are awarded for many reasons aside from financial need. Most colleges and universities have work-study programs that can help you pay for college. You may be eligible for federal student loans as well. Myth: I cannot afford college and cannot get a job that works around my schedule. I guess I cannot attend college. Fact: Complete the FAFSA to determine if you qualify for financial aid. There are also work-study opportunities that may allow to you earn income and be employed by the college! Get help and advice from Harper's financial aid experts: Talk to a One Stop Advocate Hours: Monday thru Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Email: [email protected] Call: 847.925.6710 Chat Live You can also meet with a Financial Aid Specialist. Request an appointment. Harper College Top 25 in the Nation - Aspen Prize for community college excellence - Semifinalist 2023 Ask a Question Input Ask a Question Submission General Information Accreditation Annual Campus Security Report Campus Police Consumer Information Cookie Preferences Educational Foundation Mission, Vision, Philosophy, Values Report a Concern Visit Harper College Accessibility Bookstore Campus Construction Contact Harper Directions, Maps, Parking Information Sessions Library Systems Blackboard Calendar Emergency Alert System Faculty/Staff Portal (HIP) Jobs MyHarper Student Portal Website Feedback Follow Us On OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE Harper College Logo William RaineyHarper College 1200 West Algonquin Road Palatine, IL 60067 Phone: 847.925.6000 Last Updated: 1/11/23 Harper uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Find out more on how we use cookies and how you can change your settings. I Agree (Harper website)

What should I know about student debt relief?

The Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Education announced a Student Loan Debt Relief Plan to help federal student loan borrowers transition back to repaying loans after the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. This plan includes: An Extension of the Student Loan Payment Pause The student loan payment pause is extended. Visit studentaid.gov for information. Student Loan Debt Relief The Biden-Harris Administration is providing up to $20,000 in student loan debt relief for eligible borrowers. TAKE ACTION NOW! Apply for Federal Student Loan Debt Relief - Applications are not being accepted at this time due to court orders blocking the student debt relief program. (Harper website)

Patter

The sound that is made by sthing repeatedly hitting a surface quickly & lightly (Quizlet) run with quick light steps. "plovers pattered at the edge of the marsh" a repeated light tapping. "the rain had stopped its vibrating patter above him" (Online defs)

Antonius Pius

This emperor, who was considered one of the five good emperors, was famous for judicial reforms, such as the presumption of innocence (Quizlet) Antoninus was Marcus Aurelius's uncle and adoptive father. A Roman senator, Antoninus was named successor of the Emperor Hadrian and, in turn, he named Marcus his own successor. He reigned from 138-161 C.E. Marcus credits Antoninus for being his model for living according to philosophy: he describes his predecessor as steadfast, modest, hardworking, and pious toward the gods. (LitCharts)

What do I need to tell a doctor?

What Do I Need to Tell the Doctor? Talking about your health means sharing information about how you feel physically, emotionally, and mentally. Knowing how to describe your symptoms and bring up other concerns will help you become a partner in your health care. Use these worksheets to organize your questions and information when talking with your doctor. Share any symptoms you have A symptom is evidence of a disease or disorder in the body. Examples of symptoms include pain, fever, a lump or bump, unexplained weight loss or gain, or having a hard time sleeping. Be clear and concise when describing your symptoms. Your description helps the doctor identify the problem. A physical exam and medical tests provide valuable information, but your symptoms point the doctor in the right direction. Your doctor will ask when your symptoms started, what time of day they happen, how long they last (seconds? days?), how often they occur, if they seem to be getting worse or better, and if they keep you from going out or doing your usual activities. Take the time to make some notes about your symptoms before you call or visit the doctor. Worrying about your symptoms is not a sign of weakness. Being honest about what you are experiencing doesn't mean that you are complaining. The doctor needs to know how you feel. Questions to ask yourself about your symptoms: What exactly are my symptoms? Are the symptoms constant? If not, when do I experience them? Does anything I do make the symptoms better? Or worse? Do the symptoms affect my daily activities? Which ones? How? Give information about all your medications It is possible for medicines to interact, causing unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects. Your doctor needs to know about ALL of the medicines you take, including over-the-counter (nonprescription) drugs and herbal remedies or supplements. Make a list or bring everything with you to your visit—don't forget about eye drops, vitamins, and laxatives. Tell the doctor how often you take each. Describe any drug allergies or reactions you have had. Say which medications work best for you. Tell the doctor about your habits To provide the best care, your doctor must understand you as a person and know what your life is like. The doctor may ask about where you live, what you eat, how you sleep, what you do each day, what activities you enjoy, what your sex life is like, and if you smoke or drink. Be open and honest with your doctor. It will help him or her to understand your medical conditions fully and recommend the best treatment choices for you. Share other concerns in your life with your doctor Your health has a big impact on other parts of your life. Your doctor may ask you how your life is going. This isn't being impolite or nosy. Information about what's happening in your life may be useful medically. Let the doctor know about any major changes or stresses in your life, such as a divorce or the death of a loved one. You don't have to go into detail; you may want to say something like: "It might be helpful for you to know that my sister passed away since my last visit with you," or "I recently had to sell my home and move in with my daughter." The coronavirus pandemic and physical distancing requirements can also bring about feelings of loneliness and social isolation. These feelings are associated with higher risk for depression, anxiety, and heart disease. It is important to let your doctor know when these feelings occur and how often. You may have some concerns or wishes about your care if you become seriously ill. If you have questions about what choices you have, ask your doctor. You can specify your desires through legal documents called advance directives. In general, the best time to talk with your doctor about these issues is while you are still relatively healthy. Medicare and private health insurance may cover these discussions with your doctor. One way to bring up the subject is to say: "I'm worried about what would happen in the hospital if I were very sick and not likely to get better. Can you tell me what generally happens in that case?" Another hard decision that many older people face is whether or not to move to a place where they can have more help—often an assisted living facility. If you are considering such a move, your doctor can help you weigh the pros and cons based on your health and other circumstances. He or she may be able to refer you to a social worker or a local agency that can help in finding an assisted living facility. (NIH)

Greta Thunberg

a Swedish environmental activist who is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action against climate change. (Quizlet) Greta Thunberg Swedish activist Actions Alternate titles: Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Greta Thunberg, in full Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, (born January 3, 2003, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish environmental activist who worked to address the problem of climate change, founding (2018) a movement known as Fridays for Future (also called School Strike for Climate). Greta Thunberg Greta Thunberg See all media Born: January 3, 2003 (age 19) Stockholm Sweden Founder: Fridays for Future Subjects Of Study: "I Am Greta" See all related content → Thunberg's mother was an opera singer, and her father was an actor. Greta was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which is now considered an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is characterized by abnormalities in social interactions (as in classic autism) but with normal intelligence and language development. People with Asperger syndrome tend to focus deeply on one idea or interest, and Thunberg's cause became climate change. She first learned about the issue when she was approximately eight years old, and within a few years she changed her own habits, becoming a vegan and refusing to travel by airplane. (Both livestock and airplanes emit a large amount of the gases that contribute to global warming.) Greta Thunberg Greta Thunberg Seeking to make a greater impact, Thunberg attempted to spur lawmakers into addressing climate change. For almost three weeks prior to the Swedish election in September 2018, she missed school to sit outside the country's parliament with a sign that stated "Skolstrejk för Klimatet" (School Strike for Climate). Although alone for the first day of the strike, she was joined each subsequent day by more and more people, and her story garnered international attention. After the election Thunberg returned to school but continued to skip classes on Fridays to strike, and these days were called Fridays for Future. Her action inspired hundreds of thousands of students around the world to participate in their own Fridays for Future. Strikes were held in such countries as Belgium, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. Thunberg received numerous invitations to speak about climate change. She gave speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and at the European Parliament as well as in front of the legislatures of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In September 2019 her appearance at a UN climate event in New York City—which she traveled to on an emissions-free yacht—drew particular attention for her impassioned comments: "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words...We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money, and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!" That month millions of protesters marched in climate strikes in more than 163 countries. While Thunberg was credited with shifting some people's views and behaviours regarding climate change—her influence was known as "the Greta effect"—she was not without detractors. Brazilian Pres. Jair Bolsonaro notably called her a "brat" in 2019. In addition to her environmental work, Thunberg was credited with raising awareness about Asperger and inspiring those who had the disorder. While acknowledging that Asperger had hampered her in some ways, she also noted its advantages, at one point tweeting: "I have Aspergers and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm. And—given the right circumstances—being different is a superpower." No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference (2019) is a collection of her speeches. The documentary I Am Greta appeared in 2020. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen. Asperger syndrome Table of Contents Home Health & Medicine Conditions & Diseases Childhood Diseases & Disorders Asperger syndrome neurobiological disorder Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Asperger syndrome, a neurobiological disorder characterized by autism-like abnormalities in social interactions but with normal intelligence and language acquisition. The disorder is named for Austrian physician Hans Asperger, who first described the symptoms in 1944 as belonging to a condition he called autistic psychopathy. Today, Asperger syndrome is considered an autism spectrum disorder, a category that includes autism (sometimes called classic autism) and mild autism-like conditions, in which affected persons exhibit some but not all symptoms of autism (previously recognized as pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, or PDD-NOS). Related Topics: pervasive developmental disorder autism spectrum disorder See all related content → Asperger syndrome is about three to four times more common in boys than in girls. Symptoms may be apparent after age three, though diagnosis is most frequent in children between ages five and nine. In contrast to patients with autism, individuals with Asperger syndrome usually do not have major cognitive difficulties—their IQ is in the normal or even high range—and they do not exhibit a delay in language acquisition. However, children with Asperger syndrome do display repetitive behaviour patterns similar to those observed in children with autism, and they often avoid eye contact, have poor control over fine motor movements, giving an impression of clumsiness, and have an obsessive interest in a single object, such as a computer or a type of car. This obsession generally manifests as a persistent desire to learn and to speak only about the object. Children with Asperger syndrome may become upset when instructed to focus on a task not related to their obsession and when their day-to-day routines are disrupted even in only minor ways, such as drinking from a cup that differs in colour or texture from the cup the child normally uses. Some individuals with Asperger syndrome also are affected by anxiety and depression in adolescence and adulthood. In many patients symptoms may go unrecognized for years. In the absence of a formal diagnosis, individuals affected by Asperger syndrome may be perceived as simply absentminded, socially and physically awkward, or highly intelligent. The cause of Asperger syndrome is unclear; however, imaging studies have demonstrated the presence of structural and neuronal abnormalities in certain areas of the brain in Asperger patients. These abnormalities likely contribute to the unusual thinking patterns and behaviours associated with the disorder. Asperger syndrome is best treated through early intervention methods aimed at improving social skills, physical coordination, and communication. Many people affected by Asperger syndrome improve significantly with effective treatment programs. In addition, because people with Asperger syndrome may develop a high level of expertise in a very specific area or about a single device, many are able to find jobs at which they can be successful. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information.

snafu

a confused or chaotic state; a mess

predicament

a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation

wraith

a ghost or specter; a ghost of a living person seen just before his or her death (Quizlet) a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after their death. Similar: ghost specter spirit phantom apparition manifestation vision shadow presence poltergeist supernatural being bodach duppy spook shade visitant revenant phantasm wight eidolon manes lemures used in reference to a pale, thin, or insubstantial person or thing. "heart attacks had reduced his mother to a wraith" LITERARY a wisp or faint trace of something. "a sea breeze was sending a gray wraith of smoke up the slopes" (Online defs)

promontory

a high ridge of land jutting into a body of water; a headland

vortex

a mass of whirling fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind.

nonstarter

a person or animal that fails to take part in a race. "Gawley wasn't the only nonstarter at Donington" INFORMAL a person, plan, or idea that has no chance of succeeding or being effective. "as a business proposition it's a nonstarter" (Online defs)

Gideon

an Israeli judge. In a major battle, when his forces were massively outnumbered, he fooled the opposition by making noise with trumpets that made the enemy think that the Hebrew forces were much larger than they really were. Judge of Israel, defeated Midianites with 300 men; asked for signs with the fleece (Quizlet) Gideon biblical figure Actions Alternate titles: Gedeon, Jerobaal, Jerubbaal By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Gideon, also spelled Gedeon, also called Jerubbaal, or Jerobaal, a judge and hero-liberator of Israel whose deeds are described in the Book of Judges. The author apparently juxtaposed two traditional accounts from his sources in order to emphasize Israel's monotheism and its duty to destroy idolatry. Accordingly, in one account Gideon led his clansmen of the tribe of Manasseh in slaying the Midianites, a horde of desert raiders; but, influenced by the cult of his adversaries, he fashioned an idolatrous image from the booty and induced Israel into immorality. In the parallel version he replaced the idol and altar of the local deity Baal with the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel, who consequently inspired Gideon and his clan to destroy the Midianites and their chiefs as a sign of Yahweh's supremacy over Baal. The story is also important for showing the development of a monarchy in Israel under Gideon's son Abimelech. Bible Table of Contents Home Philosophy & Religion Scriptures Bible sacred text Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Top Questions Why is the Bible important? What language was the Bible originally written in? How is the Bible organized? When was the Bible written? What does the Bible say? Moses and the Israelites Moses and the Israelites Bible Bible Philip II; Bible Philip II; Bible Bible, the sacred scriptures of Judaism and Christianity. The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions of the Old Testament being slightly larger because of their acceptance of certain books and parts of books considered apocryphal by Protestants. The Hebrew Bible includes only books known to Christians as the Old Testament. The arrangements of the Jewish and Christian canons differ considerably. The Protestant and Roman Catholic arrangements more nearly match one another. A brief treatment of the Bible follows. For full treatment, see biblical literature. More From Britannica Christianity: Biblical foundations Consider the Bible's Old Testament as a literary masterpiece dramatized by paintings, music, and sculpture Consider the Bible's Old Testament as a literary masterpiece dramatized by paintings, music, and sculptureSee all videos for this article Examine the Old Testament's The Book of Proverbs and other books through a literary lens Examine the Old Testament's The Book of Proverbs and other books through a literary lensSee all videos for this article Traditionally, the Jews have divided their scriptures into three parts: the Torah (the "Law," or Pentateuch), the Neviʾim ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings," or Hagiographa). The Pentateuch, together with the Book of Joshua (hence the name Hexateuch), can be seen as the account of how the Israelites became a nation and of how they possessed the Promised Land. The division designated as the "Prophets" continues the story of Israel in the Promised Land, describing the establishment and development of the monarchy and presenting the messages of the prophets to the people. The "Writings" include speculation on the place of evil and death in the scheme of things (Job and Ecclesiastes), the poetical works, and some additional historical books. In the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, various types of literature are represented; the purpose of the Apocrypha seems to have been to fill in some of the gaps left by the indisputably canonical books and to carry the history of Israel to the 2nd century BCE. Bible Bible scripture scripture The New Testament is by far the shorter portion of the Christian Bible, but, through its associations with the spread of Christianity, it has wielded an influence far out of proportion to its modest size. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is a collection of books, including a variety of early Christian literature. The four Gospels deal with the life, the person, and the teachings of Jesus, as he was remembered by the Christian community. The Acts of the Apostles carries the story of Christianity from the Resurrection of Jesus to the end of the career of St. Paul. The various Letters, or Epistles, are correspondence by various leaders of the early Christian church, chief among them St. Paul, applying the message of the church to the sundry needs and problems of early Christian congregations. The Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) is the only canonical representative of a large genre of apocalyptic literature that appeared in the early Christian movement. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. Encyclopedia Britannica)

Et cetera

and so on

criminality

behavior that is contrary to or forbidden by criminal law. "a regime that sanctions organized criminality" (Online def)

Albert Bandura

researcher famous for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment pioneer in observational learning (AKA social learning), stated that people profit from the mistakes/successes of others; Studies: Bobo Dolls-adults demonstrated 'appropriate' play with dolls, children mimicked play (Quizlet) Albert Bandura American psychologist Actions By Jeannette L. Nolen Last Updated: Nov 30, 2022 Article History Table of Contents Albert Bandura, (born December 4, 1925, Mundare, Alberta, Canada—died July 26, 2021, Stanford, California, U.S.), Canadian-born American psychologist and originator of social cognitive theory who is probably best known for his modeling study on aggression, referred to as the "Bobo doll" experiment, which demonstrated that children can learn behaviours through the observation of adults. Albert Bandura Albert Bandura See all media Born: December 4, 1925 Canada Died: July 26, 2021 (aged 95) California Subjects Of Study: aggressive behaviour social cognitive theory Role In: Bobo doll experiment See all related content → Early life and work Bandura was the youngest of six children born to parents of eastern European descent. His father was from Kraków, Poland, and his mother from Ukraine; both immigrated to Canada as adolescents. After marrying, they settled in Mundare, Alberta, where Bandura's father worked laying track for the trans-Canada railroad. After graduating from high school in 1946, Bandura pursued a bachelor's degree at the University of British Columbia and in 1949 graduated with the Bolocan Award in psychology, annually awarded to the outstanding student in psychology. He then did graduate work at the University of Iowa, where he received a master's degree in psychology (1951) and a doctorate in clinical psychology (1952). In 1953 Bandura accepted a one-year instructorship at Stanford University, where he quickly secured a professorship. In 1974 he was named the David Starr Jordan Professor of Social Science in Psychology, and two years later he became chairman of the psychology department. He remained at Stanford, becoming professor emeritus in 2010. The Bobo doll experiment In 1961 Bandura carried out his famous Bobo doll experiment, a study in which researchers physically and verbally abused a clown-faced inflatable toy in front of preschool-age children, which led the children to later mimic the behaviour of the adults by attacking the doll in the same fashion. Subsequent experiments in which children were exposed to such violence on videotape yielded similar results. Testimony on the effects of televised violence In the late 1960s, prompted by the media's graphic coverage of the assassination of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy together with increased reports of children incurring serious injuries during attempted replications of dangerous behaviours depicted in television advertisements, the potential effects of television violence on children became a growing public concern. Because of his related research, Bandura was invited to testify before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Eisenhower Commission, and several congressional committees as to the evidence that televised violence affects aggressive behaviour. His testimony played a role in the FTC's decision to render as unacceptable portrayals of children engaging in risky activities—such as pounding one another in the head with mallets in an advertisement for headache medication—and subsequently to pass new advertising standards. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Later life and work Bandura was the first to demonstrate (1977) that self-efficacy, the belief in one's own capabilities, has an effect on what individuals choose to do, the amount of effort they put into doing it, and the way they feel as they are doing it. Bandura also discovered that learning occurs both through those beliefs and through social modeling—thereby originating social cognitive theory (1986), which holds that a person's environment, cognition, and behaviour all interact to determine how that person functions, as opposed to one of those factors playing a dominant role. Bandura received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of psychology, including the American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology (2004), the American Psychological Foundation's Gold Medal Award for distinguished lifetime contribution to psychological science (2006), and the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology (2008; carrying a $200,000 prize) for his groundbreaking work in self-efficacy and cognitive theory. In 2016 he received the National Medal of Science. Bandura also held many organizational memberships and positions, including APA president (1974) and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) fellow (1980). Bandura was associated for many years with a variety of academic journals, including the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Applied Psychology, Media Psychology, Cognitive Therapy and Research, Behavior Research and Therapy, and Social Behavior and Personality. He also authored, coauthored, or edited a number of books, including Adolescent Aggression (1959), Principles of Behavior Modification (1969), Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis (1973), Social Learning Theory (1977), and Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves (2016). In 2002 the Review of General Psychology ranked Bandura as the fourth most eminent psychologist of the 20th century, following B.F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, and Sigmund Freud. Jeannette L. Nolen Stanford University Table of Contents Home Lifestyles & Social Issues Education Stanford University university, Stanford, California, United States Actions Alternate titles: Leland Stanford Junior University By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Stanford, Leland Stanford, Leland Stanford University, official name Leland Stanford Junior University, private coeducational institution of higher learning at Stanford, California, U.S. (adjacent to Palo Alto), one of the most prestigious in the country. The university was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane (née Lathrop), and was dedicated to their deceased only child, Leland, Jr.; it opened in 1891. The university campus largely occupies Stanford's former Palo Alto farm. The buildings, conceived by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and designed by architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, are of soft buff sandstone in a style similar to the old California mission architecture, being long and low with wide colonnades, open arches, and red-tiled roofs. The campus sustained heavy damage from earthquakes in 1906 and 1989 but was rebuilt each time. The university was coeducational from the outset, though between 1899 and 1933 enrollment of women students was limited to 500. Stanford University Stanford University See all media Date: 1885 - present Notable Alumni: Karl Deisseroth Paul Milgrom Owen Garriott Alvin E. Roth Ernest J. Gaines Related People: Frederick Law Olmsted Ellwood Cubberley David Starr Jordan Leland Stanford See all related content → Stanford maintains overseas study centres in France, Italy, Germany, England, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Japan, and Russia; about one-third of its undergraduates study at one of these sites for one or two academic quarters. A study and internship program is also offered in Washington, D.C. The university offers a broad range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in schools of law, medicine, education, engineering, business, earth sciences, and humanities and sciences. Total enrollment exceeds 16,000. Stanford is a national centre for research and is home to more than 120 research institutes. The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace—founded in 1919 by Stanford alumnus (and future U.S. president) Herbert Hoover to preserve documents related to World War I—contains more than 1.6 million volumes and 50 million documents dealing with 20th-century international relations and public policy. The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), established in 1962, is one of the world's premier laboratories for research in particle physics. Other noted research facilities include the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the Institute for International Studies, and the Stanford Humanities Center. Stanford University: Memorial Church Stanford University: Memorial Church The Stanford Medical Center, completed on the campus in 1959, is one of the top teaching hospitals in the country. Other notable campus locations are the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts (housing the university museum) and its adjacent sculpture garden, containing works by Auguste Rodin, and Hanna House (1937), designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Adjacent to the campus is the Stanford Research Park (1951), one of the world's principal locations for the development of electronics and computer technology. The Hopkins Marine Station is maintained by the university at Pacific Grove on Monterey Bay, and a biological field station is located near the campus at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Stanford's distinguished faculty has included many Nobel laureates, including Milton Friedman (economics), Arthur Kornberg (biochemistry), and Burton Richter (physics). Among the university's many notable alumni are writers John Steinbeck and Ken Kesey, painter Robert Motherwell, U.S. Supreme Court Justices William Hubbs Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor, astronaut Sally Ride, and golfer Tiger Woods. This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

voila

there it is; there you are. ""Voila!" she said, producing a pair of strappy white sandals" (Online def)

The worse for wear

tired or in poor condition because of a lot of work or use (Wuizlet) If you say that someone is the worse for wear, you mean that they are tired, ill, or in a bad state because they have been very active, been through a difficult experience, or been drinking alcohol. He arrived on January 9, disheveled and much the worse for wear. (Collins dictionary)

begrudge

to give reluctantly, to envy a possession or one's enjoyment to resent another's success; to envy

dimples

tiny hollow places on a person's cheek Shallow depressions located on the cheek or chin; rounded or vertical. (Quizlet) Dimples are small indentations that can be found on your skin. They can occur on different places of the body, including the cheeks, chin, and lower back. Cheek dimples can be found on the sides of the mouth. You can have a dimple on both sides of your mouth or on just one side. You've probably noticed that some people have cheek dimples and others don't. That's because cheek dimples are formed by differences in the muscles and skin of the face. They're often believed to be inherited in a genetically dominant way, although there's some debate about this. So how many people have dimples? While the prevalence of dimples may vary by population, one study of over 2,300 people found that about 37 percent of participants had cheek dimples... How cheek dimples form Dimples are sometimes caused by a change in a facial muscle called the zygomaticus major. This muscle is involved in facial expression. It's the one that helps to raise the corners of your mouth when you smile. In people without dimples, the zygomaticus major muscle usually begins at a bone in your cheek called the zygomatic bone. It then runs downward, connecting to the corner of your mouth. In people with dimples, the zygomaticus major may divide into two separate bundles of muscle on its way down to the mouth. One bundle connects at the corner of the mouth. The other bundle connects below the corner of the mouth and is also tethered to the skin above it. This split in the muscle can be referred to as a double or bifid zygomaticus major muscle. Movement of the skin over the double zygomaticus major muscle when you smile causes the dimple to form. Because cheek dimples can result from a muscular variation that occurs during fetal development, they're sometimes mistakenly referred to as a birth defect. It's important to remember that not only are cheek dimples rather common, but they also don't have any negative health effects. The genetics You inherit one set of genes from your mother and another from your father. Most genes have at least two variations, which are called alleles. Alleles can be dominant or recessive. Dominant traits are exactly that — they tend to "dominate" over recessive traits. If both parents display a dominant trait, the chances that their child will also display that same trait are very high. What does this mean for cheek dimples? It's often said that cheek dimples are an inherited dominant trait. However, very little research has actually been done into the actual genetics of cheek dimples. It is not known if dimples are truly inherited or not. People with cheek dimples do tend to have children with cheek dimples. This suggests that it's a heritable dominant trait. However, not every couple with dimples has a child with dimples. Additionally, while some individuals may have dimples for their entire life, in others dimples can actually change over time. Someone with dimples as a child may not have them as an adult. Additionally, a child born without dimples may develop them later on in their childhood. Because the inheritance pattern of cheek dimples can be unpredictable, some researchers classify them as an irregular dominant trait. This means that cheek dimples are often, but not always, inherited as a dominant trait. Also, dimple inheritance may not be as simple as one set of alleles. Multiple genes could actually influence cheek dimples. More research would need to be done to find the actual answer. Are dimples considered attractive? If you were to ask a group of people if they found dimples attractive, you'd probably get a large variety of answers or opinions. Some may say that dimples make people look more youthful or approachable. Dimples are indeed associated with beauty and even good luck in some culturesTrusted Source. But what does research say about the perception of dimples? There's actually a limited amount of studies on this subject. One study found that men preferred women with facial traits similar to their own, including eye color, hair color, and chin dimples. Cheek dimples weren't evaluated in the study, but perhaps people with dimples prefer other people with dimples. Dimples may also help us communicate with others. A studyTrusted Source on human facial features suggests that the presence of features such as a dimple may make an expression or smile more noticeable, or may convey more information about the intensity of a person's expression. What if you want cheek dimples? Do you want cheek dimples even though you don't have them? There's now a type of plastic surgery available that creates cheek dimples. It's called a dimpleplasty. During dimpleplasty, a small incision is made at the site where the dimple will be. Then, a small amount of tissue is carefully removed. A small stitch, called a sling, is passed through the skin and muscle on either side of the area. This brings the skin and muscle together and creates the dimple. If you're interested in this procedure, set up an appointment with a plastic surgeon to talk about the benefits and risks. The bottom line Cheek dimples may result from a difference in the structure of one of the muscles in your face. They're likely a genetic trait, although the specifics of how they're inherited still aren't clear. Many people may find cheek dimples to be cute or attractive. However, the scientific reasons why aren't completely known. People who want cheek dimples can now have them created via plastic surgery. If you're considering dimpleplasty, be sure to speak to your doctor and weigh the potential risks and benefits beforehand. (Healthline)

moot

(adj.) open to discussion and debate, unresolved; (v.) to bring up for discussion; (n.) a hypothetical law case argued by students (Quizlet) subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty. "whether they had been successful or not was a moot point" having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision. "the whole matter is becoming increasingly moot" verb raise (a question or topic) for discussion; suggest (an idea or possibility). "Sylvia needed a vacation, and a trip to Ireland had been mooted" HISTORICAL an assembly held for debate, especially in Anglo-Saxon and medieval times. a regular gathering of people having a common interest. 2. LAW a mock trial set up to examine a hypothetical case as an academic exercise. "the object of a moot is to provide practice in developing an argument" (Online defs)

provocative

(adj.) tending to produce a strong feeling or response; arousing desire or appetite; irritating, annoying

propensity

(n.) a natural inclination or predilection toward

Nonconformist

(n.) a person who refuses to follow established ideas or ways of doing things; (adj.) of or relating to the unconventional

Of the same ilk

If you talk about people or things of the same ilk, you mean people or things of the same type as a person or thing that has been mentioned. (Collins dictionary)

How do I be good at math? According to Wikihow

How to Be Good at Mathematics Co-authored by Ronitte Libedinsky, MS Last Updated: November 23, 2022 References Approved Download Article Many people feel they are naturally bad at math, and will not be able to improve in the area. This is simply not true. Studies show being good at math is a matter of hard work just as much, if not more, than innate talent. You can become good at math simply by dedication. Take time each day to practice math until the concepts start to click for you. If necessary, seek outside help. A tutor, a teacher, or even someone who is simply good at math can help you perfect your skills. You should also work on developing a healthy attitude about math. Many people have a defeatist attitude about the subject, and are inclined to think, "I'm not good at math now, so I never will be." Understand this is not the case. Most people can improve at math with some extra hard work. Part 1 Part 1 of 3: Getting Help and Advice 1 Ask your teacher for help. Most teachers are enthusiastic about encouraging students. If you want to be better at math, do not hesitate to ask your teacher for help. He or she may be able to give you one-on-one attention and go over problems after class. Do not feel bad about asking for help. Many people struggle with math, and your teacher has likely dealt with struggling students before. Your teacher is invested in seeing you succeed. Be direct when asking for help, and explain the issue clearly. Do not say, "I don't get any of this." Instead, say, "I feel like I understand everything until chapter three, but polynomials are really confusing me." 2 Hire a tutor. If you feel you need a lot of one-on-one attention, consider hiring a tutor. A tutor can sit down with you a certain number of times per week and go over problems with you. A quality tutor can help math start to click for you, leading you to better understand the subject as a whole. If you have a learning disability that affects your competency at math, such as dyslexia, see if you can find a tutor who works with students with disabilities. National organizations associated with your disability may be able to find you a local tutor. A medical doctor may be able to refer you to a tutor as well. 3 Have another person check your work. If you know someone who's good at math, have them look over your work when you're done. You can ask a parent for help, a tutor you hired, or a friend or family member who excels at math. If you're very confused, choose someone with a lot of patience who's good at explaining things. Your cousin may be a whiz at math, but he may be short-tempered and judgmental. He may snap at you for not understanding something. Instead, ask your sister who's usually calm. Do not be embarrassed to ask for help. It can take a long time to improve your math skills, and everyone needs some help along the way. 4 Try enrolling in an online course. If you're trying to improve your math skills outside of school, you can try taking an online course. Universities like Kaplan provide an array of online courses, and many colleges have classes online students can take remotely.[1] Some schools provide certain aspects of a course, like PowerPoint presentations and taped lectures, for free online. You can also look into an auditing a course at a local college. If money is an issue, auditing a course can allow you to gain knowledge for no cost. 5 Go to your school's math resource center, if you have one. If you are in school, your school may have a math resource center. Many campuses have a center where students can go for one-on-one math tutoring. Check to see if a math center is available at your school. If it is, make use of the resource.[2] If your school does not have a resource center, it may have a general resource center where you can get help on a variety of subjects. You can also see if your professor does review sessions. If you're confused by a subject, a review session with a professor can help you better understand that subject. 6 Try to help someone else. Sometimes, explaining a concept to another person can help you understand it more. If you're finally getting your calculus course, and a friend is struggling, you could try offering to help him or her. You could also form a study group. If anyone is struggling with something you're beginning to understand, you can offer to help. When helping, explain the subject material as clear as you possibly can. In addition to explaining the process, explain why it works. If you're beginning to feel very comfortable with your math skills, you could work as a private tutor for people at a lower level. Explaining math to others can help improve your math skills. Part 2 Part 2 of 3: Cultivating the Right Mindset 1 Adopt a positive attitude about math. Many people self-sabotage with math by convincing themselves they can't do it. If you struggled with math in high school, college, or at another point in your education, you may think you're not good at math and simply will not be able to do it. A positive attitude can help you stay motivated and feel encouraged as you attempt to hone your math skills.[3] If you have a bad attitude, you will get frustrated easily. If you assume you're bad at math, when you get a problem wrong you will see that as a confirmation of this assumption. You will think to yourself, "I knew I'm no good at this. What's the point?" Go into it with the right attitude. If you're currently struggling with math, don't think, "I'm bad at math." Instead, think to yourself, "I have not taken enough time to practice math, so I'm still learning. With some hard work, I know I can improve my skills." 2 Reject the notion you are naturally bad at math. Many people convince themselves they're naturally bad at math. This can lead a person to not put in the work to improve. Understand that it's a myth that people have a natural tendency towards math. Studies show everyone can learn math with a little work.[4] [5] Some people do have an inborn talent for math. This can help them gain an advantage early on, and they may learn more quickly in elementary school. However, most studies indicate hard work can improve your math skills just as much as a natural inclination. In fact, hard work may pay off more long term than innate talent. There are learning disorders, like dyscalculia, that can affect your ability to do math. However, even with a learning disability, you can improve your math skills with practice and proper treatment. Do not get discouraged. You are not simply bad at math. You just need practice. 3 Take math seriously. Another reason people struggle with math is that they do not take it seriously. They feel it's okay to be bad at math, or laugh it off. While you should not feel bad about yourself for struggling with math, take it seriously as a subject.[6] The ability to do math can help with your reasoning skills, and mental math can make your day-to-day life less stressful. Embrace math instead of disregarding it. Being good at math can be beneficial to you. 4 Stay motivated. Practice is really the only way to improve your math skills long term. There is really no magic trick that will improve your skills overnight. You just have to stay motivated. Keep up with your studies and ask for help when you need it. With some time and dedication, you can become a math whiz. Part 3 Part 3 of 3: Practicing Math 1 Study in a distraction-free environment. If you're not good at math yet, you need to make sure you're studying in an environment that allows for concentration. Before you sit down to practice, find a place free of outside stimuli that can cause a distraction. Find an area where there is not a lot of noise or commotion. A quiet coffee shop could work, or a desk in your bedroom. Minimize distractions in front of you. Disconnect from the internet and put away your phone. If you like music while studying, go for instrumental music. Music with lyrics, or music that's very loud, can be distracting when you're studying. 2 Make time to practice each day. There's no real secret to becoming good at mathematics. It all comes down to dedication. If you want to improve your math score, hard work is key. You will have to practice every day until you start to understand the underlying concepts behind math. Stick to a schedule. See where you can fit in some study time every day. Maybe you usually have some time in the early evenings. You could plan to study math from 6 to 7 every night after dinner. Try not to study for hours and hours straight. This may create stress. Study for an hour or so each night. 3 Learn the logic and process involved in solving a problem. Math is sequential. Many people feel they have to memorize concepts and formulas or map out the answer in their head before they begin. This is not productive. Instead, try to understand the concepts behind math. If you see how and why an equation works, you'll be able to remember it more easily in a pinch.[7] Math theory may seem complicated, but with a little hard work, you can begin to figure it out. In math classes, do not hesitate to ask why. Why does the Pythagorean Theorem work? How does the quadratic equation work on a logical level? Understanding the underlying concepts is far more productive than simple memorization. If you understand something in depth, you'll have an easier time working with it. You'll be better equipped to check your answer if you understand why an equation makes sense. 4 Work out a problem one step at a time. Doing math, you want to see how to discover an answer. Instead of pre-planning how you'll figure out the answer, simply work the equation one step at a time. Do not think ahead, as going slowly will allow you to see how the answer unfolds.[8] If you first need to divide, concentrate only on dividing. If you need to add next, keep your focus on adding. Once you've completed the problem, you can go through and look at the process. Try to understand why and how the process worked. 5 Review incorrect answers carefully. You can learn a lot from your mistakes in math. When you find you have an incorrect answer, review your process. Where and how did you go wrong? Try to work through the problem again, figuring out how to get the correct answer.[9] It's vital that you write down your process when solving math problems. Use a pen to write down the steps you took to solve a problem line by line. This way, when you make an error, you can review your work and figure out where you slipped up more easily. 6 Check your answers. Review your process after completing an equation. Carefully make sure you calculated everything correctly and used the right process. When you check to see if you got the answer right, you're more likely to have succeeded if you checked your answers carefully. This will also help you get in the habit of checking answers, which can boost grades on an exam.[10] Checking answers can also help you better understand the underlying theories behind math. Community Q&A Question How do you find the answer to a math problem? Grace Imson, MA Math Instructor, City College of San Francisco Expert Answer Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer. There are 3 tips that can help you work through math problems. 1) Work the steps in the correct operational order to correctly solve a problem. Also, work carefully, because little errors on signs or addition can cause you to get the wrong answer. 2) Identify the required information. Separate the given data from what you're asked to find to be sure you know what you're really looking for. 3) Find the relationship between the given and the required. Try to visualize how the information you're given relates to the answer you need to find. In some problems, the two won't be directly related to each other, so you'll need to work through the steps until you can find that relationship or the formula you need to use to solve the problem. Question How can I get rid of nervousness before a math exam? Community Answer Think clearly and don't stress out. It's not the end of the world. Ask your teacher if you can have a reference book for the test. If not, try to let the information sink in. Don't memorise; that's the first thing not to do! Train your memory and learn basic problems and then get better and better as you go along. Question Even though I practice I have trouble remembering how to solve problems. How can I increase my memory? Community Answer Review the chapters you practiced every day. Give at least 15 minutes to the old chapter and then start the new ones. Keep practicing one chapter until you are sure about it. There is no shortcut to success, it's about repetition and practice. Appoint a tutor if having continued difficulty See more answers Tips Don't be embarrassed to ask questions when you are confused. Everyone asks questions. Don't wait to study until the last minute if you have a test. Study a little bit each day. Take your time. It may take you a while to solve a difficult problem. Show More You Might Also Like How to Calculate Magnification How to Learn Math How to Calculate Ratios How to Seem Good at Everything How to Be a Good Mathematician How to Use an Abacus How to Write Numbers in Words How to Calculate Percentages How to Find the Y Intercept How to Find the Domain of a Function How to Calculate Growth Rate How to Calculate Percentage Increase How to Calculate a Test Grade How to Read Someone's Mind With Math (Math Trick) References ↑http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/ ↑http://drexel.edu/coas/academics/departments-centers/mathematics/math-resource-center/ ↑https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/research-and-resources/attitudes-towards-maths ↑https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-to-help-your-child-with-math ↑https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/research-and-resources/attitudes-towards-maths ↑http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201203/why-is-it-socially-acceptable-be-bad-math ↑https://sciencing.com/improve-math-skills-college-students-8659910.html ↑https://www.education.udel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MathDifficulties.pdf ↑https://www.education.udel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MathDifficulties.pdf More References (1) About This Article Co-authored by: Ronitte Libedinsky, MS Academic Tutor This article was co-authored by Ronitte Libedinsky, MS. Ronitte Libedinsky is an Academic Tutor and the Founder of Brighter Minds SF, a San Francisco, California based company that provides one-on-one and small group tutoring. Specializing in tutoring mathematics (pre-algebra, algebra I/II, geometry, pre-calculus, calculus) and science (chemistry, biology), Ronitte has over 10 years of experience tutoring to middle school, high school, and college students. She also tutors in SSAT, Terra Nova, HSPT, SAT, and ACT test prep. Ronitte holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in Chemistry from Tel Aviv University. This article has been viewed 1,084,524 times. Co-authors: 150 Updated: November 23, 2022 Views: 1,084,524 Article Rating: 85% - 46 votes Categories: Mathematics Article Summary In other languages Reader Success Stories Anjali Vasudevan May 30, 2020 "I didn't like maths at first but I then started linking maths to my life. Every time I would cut an orange it would remind me of the formula of how to work out the circumference. I know it sounds weird but it really helped me a lot. Now I just adore maths!" More reader stories Did this article help you? Yes No CategoriesEducation and CommunicationsStudyingMathematics Home About wikiHow Experts Jobs Contact Us Site Map Terms of Use Privacy Policy Contribute Follow Us × Don't miss out! Sign up for wikiHow's newsletter Subscribe

Contraception

Intentionally preventing pregnancy from occurring

caveat emptor

Latin term for "buyer beware"

Investing in credit card companies?

Investing in Credit Card Companies By EMILY NORRIS Updated September 30, 2021 Reviewed by THOMAS BROCK The American obsession with easy credit and consumers' unwavering need to use credit cards means these companies have the potential to be long-term winners. However, investors must learn all they can about this ever-evolving industry to be successful. Read on for an overview of investing in credit card companies. How Do Credit Card Businesses Make Money? The credit card business is all about lending money. Credit card companies issue credit to ease purchases and allow consumers to delay payment on items. Credit cards allow consumers to purchase items they may not have the cash for at the time of purchase but will at a later date. Of course, like any loan company, the extended credit comes at a price, which is the interest rate charged on the borrowed money. Credit can be easily extended to almost anyone, and through the use of credit limits and other devices, credit card companies can protect themselves from riskier borrowers. There are also monthly minimum payments that are purposely set low to encourage card users to carry the debt for long periods—and thus pay more interest. Factors That Affect Profitability The biggest factor that affects this industry is how well consumers are doing financially. Strong consumer confidence translates into more purchases, which generally means greater use of credit cards. On the flip side, when consumer confidence is eroding, credit card companies are negatively affected. When consumers purchase fewer goods, they usually also cut back on their credit card usage. Monitoring the general fitness of the economy is essential for successful investing. There are also conditions that can both hamper and help the future growth of the credit card business. Government regulations can impact the bottom line of credit card companies. For example, the fallout from the Great Recessing brought interest in the consumer financials industry and how the government could improve the credit practices of the companies involved. 1 As such, investors need to keep a close eye on all government decisions regarding the financial services sector and how those decisions will impact credit card companies. Similarly, you need to keep an eye on an industry barometer known as revolving credit, which is a type of credit that has no fixed number of payments. Credit card payments are a perfect example. You should carefully monitor the percentage of increase or decrease in revolving credit. The latter is a sign that consumers are deciding against making big purchases with credit cards, which means a downturn in business. Late payers can pose a problem for credit card companies, so another barometer to watch is the Consumer Credit Delinquencies Bulletin, which tracks delinquencies based on dollars outstanding. The American Bankers Association publishes this bulletin. 2 Delinquencies cause credit card companies to cut credit limits for existing customers and make it difficult for new customers to get cards. Pulling in the oars, so to speak, will hurt profits. A more company-specific indication of a credit card company's financial condition is the interest rate it charges. During tough economic conditions, companies can always slash interest rates to entice customers into using their cards more often. However, this will mean less money generated from the credit used by consumers, depressing the bottom line. How to Invest in Credit Card Companies If you are considering investing in credit card companies, there are a few ways to go about it. These companies fit into the consumer financial services sector. When you are looking to place your money here, your choices include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and stocks. Mutual funds and ETFs will not provide the most direct investment in credit card companies, however, because both will mix the stocks of credit card companies with those of banks and other financial services companies. The advantage of investing in credit card companies through mutual funds and ETFs is the ability to make a small investment with adequate diversification. Stocks are the most direct course of action for investing in credit card companies. The four major credit card stocks are American Express (NYSE:AXP), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), Visa (NYSE:V), and Mastercard (NYSE:MA). The Bottom Line An investment in the credit card business will require you to keep an eye on certain consumer indexes and the overall condition of the economy. Although investing in individual stocks is the most direct way to profit in this sector, mutual funds and ETFs can provide risk-averse investors with some exposure to this sector. There are always new cards, and companies continue to seek new ways to extend credit to consumers. Understanding the business and what affects the profits will allow you to make a sound financial decision when investing in the credit card business. What are credit card networks? Credit card networks are the companies that are most commonly referred to as credit card companies. The four networks based in the United States are Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. Visa and Mastercard do not issue credit cards directly to the public but rather do so through member banks such as Chase, Citi and Bank of America. Discover and American Express are both networks and card issuers, however. Card networks primarily function to facilitate merchant payment and settlement in conjunction with issuers of credit cards. What are credit card issuers? Credit card issuers are banking institutions that have partnered with one or more of the four major card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express) to issue credit cards directly to the public. Major banking issuers include Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Capital One and Wells Fargo. Credit card issuers actually underwrite the credit risk involved with lending consumers money through credit cards and also are responsible for setting interest rates, customer billing, managing reward programs and reporting account behavior to credit bureaus. What is the best way to invest in credit card companies Investors can buy shares in one or more of the credit card networks or in individual issuing credit card issuers. However, these types of companies make up a significant portion of the market share in consumer financial mutual funds and ETFs that track the financial sector, so these investment vehicles can be a less risky way to gain exposure to the potential performance of credit card companies. ARTICLE SOURCES Related Articles Student at desk, writing in journal on top of open laptop FINANCIAL LITERACY The Ultimate Guide to Financial Literacy Teenager Working and Studying from Home Using Laptop FINANCIAL LITERACY RESOURCE CENTER Finance Terms for Beginners ECONOMICS What Trends Affect Profitability in Financials? woman standing at an ATM SECTORS & INDUSTRIES What Are the Main Benchmarks That Track the Banking Sector? Stock market charts on smartphone screen INVESTING How to Buy Dividend Stocks Businessmen BANKING Black-Owned Banks by State Related Terms Credit Review: Definition, Purposes, How to Read Them A credit review is a periodic assessment of an individual's financial profile, often used to determine a potential borrower's credit risk. more What is a Financial Institution? A financial institution (FI) is a company that focuses on dealing with financial transactions, such as investments, loans, and deposits. more What Is Diversification? Definition as Investing Strategy Diversification is an investment strategy based on the premise that a portfolio with different asset types will perform better than one with few. more What Is Revolving Credit? What It Is, How It Works, and Examples Revolving credit is an agreement that permits an account holder to borrow money repeatedly up to a set limit while repaying in installments. Here's how it works. more What Is Consumer Discretionary? Definition in Economic Indicators Consumer discretionary is an economic sector comprising non-essential products and services that individuals may only purchase when they have excess cash. more What Is the Dow 30? Companies In It, Significance The Dow 30 is a stock index comprised of 30 large, publicly-traded U.S. companies that acts as a barometer of the U.S. stock market and economy. more Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Newsletter Twitter TRUSTe About Us Terms of Service Dictionary Editorial Policy Advertise News Privacy Policy Contact Us Careers Do Not Sell My Personal Information Investopedia is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. Ad (Investopedia)

carpe diem

Literally, "seize the day"; "enjoy life while you can," a common theme in life and literature.

rind

Noun the tough outer skin of certain fruit, especially citrus fruit. "decorate with fine shreds of orange rind" verb strip the bark from (a tree). "when the meat ran out they had to rind trees and chew the inner bark for nourishment" (Online defs)

Algo

Something

to bait someone

To 'bait' someone is to intentionally make a person angry by saying or doing things to annoy them. Baiting is a provocative act used to solicit an angry, aggressive or emotional response from another individual. (Online)

sociopath

a person who suffers from an antisocial mental disorder a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience. (Quizlet) Antisocial personality disorder Also called: ASPD Main Results Description A mental health disorder characterized by disregard for other people. Those with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) may begin to show symptoms in childhood, but the condition can't be diagnosed until adolescence or adulthood. (Online def)

prototype

an original model on which later versions are patterned A full-scale working model used to test a design concept by making actual observations and necessary adjustments. (Quizlet) a first, typical or preliminary model of something, especially a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied. "the firm is testing a prototype of the weapon" verb 3rd person present: prototypes make a prototype of (a product). "Mercedes is prototyping a car sunroof which changes from clear to tinted" (Online defs)

Reductionist

approach that seeks to define a complex set of facts by a simpler set of facts

Plan B

emergency contraception

apathy

lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. (Online def)

circumscription

limitation

sedative

medicine used to help a person settle into a state of calmness

reassuring

restoring confidence and relieving anxiety (Quizlet) serving or intended to remove someone's doubts or fears. "Gina gave her a reassuring smile" (Online def)

Dimorphism

the instance of polymorphism in which there is a difference of form between two members of a species, as between males and females (Quizlet) The term dimorphism denotes a trait that occurs in two distinct forms or morphs within a given species and traits that differ consistently between males and females are sexual dimorphisms. Sexually dimorphic traits may differ so radically between sexes that they can be reliably used to differentiate males from females. (ScienceDirect)

eulogize

write or speak in praise of someone

enmity

(n.) hatred, ill-will SYNONYMS: hostility, animosity ANTONYMS: friendship, amity (Quizlet) the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. (Online def)

scatterbrain

(of a person) disorganized and lacking in concentration.

decoy

(v.) to lure into a trap; (n.) a person or thing used to lure into a trap

Embezzle

(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling $10,000 of the company's funds.) (Quizlet) steal or misappropriate (money placed in one's trust or belonging to the organization for which one works). "she had embezzled $5,600,000 in company funds" (Online def)

How do I keep investors?

... FORBESSMALL BUSINESSENTREPRENEURS 3 Easy Steps To Keep Your Investors Happy Goncalo de Vasconcelos Former Contributor Jan 11, 2018,11:05am EST This article is more than 5 years old. More From Forbes Never underestimate the importance of keeping your investors happy. It's a long-term relationship and you're going to need to support each other. One way to keep investors happy is, of course, to give them a great return on their money. Until that happens, there is plenty you can and should do to make sure your existing investors (i.e. shareholders) are your greatest supporters. Happy existing investors send an overwhelmingly positive signal to potential future investors, and are more likely to introduce you to potential future investors and put in a good word for you. These are three very easy steps you should get in the habit of in order to increase the chances of future success. Report regularly to company shareholders and make[+] SHUTTERSTOCK 1. Report regularly At SyndicateRoom, the EIS investment platform I co-founded, we often see the overwhelmingly positive results of companies reporting to shareholders regularly, as well as the catastrophic consequences of doing so sporadically. Avoid putting future investors off simply by adding a recurring reminder to your calendar to report to your existing shareholders every 3 months. Don't be afraid to give bad news and be very honest about when you may need more capital. If your investors know that you will have a funding round in 9 months, then 6 months, then 3 months, they will be pleased with the level of transparency and financial control you have. Having follow-on investment from existing investors always sends a strong positive message to potential future investors. Within our portfolio of investments, we've seen extraordinarily positive results when a company reports to its shareholders regularly, inspiring existing investors to heavily follow their money in future funding rounds. Unfortunately, we've also seen the catastrophic results of companies not reporting for months on end, only then to report they need more money - not unlike a student that phones home only when their funds run dry. By then it's too late; shareholders no longer trust the management team, write off their initial investment, and refuse to follow their money in future funding rounds - a big red flag for any potential new investors. I've seen companies fail as a direct result of such negligence. I cannot emphasise this enough: reporting regularly will work in your favour in the short, medium and long term. It's one of the most important tasks every CEO should have in their regular to-do list. 2. Be honest Investors hate surprises - especially bad surprises. Be honest with them. The vast majority of investors know and understand that very few companies develop according to plan. Don't be afraid to let investors know if something goes wrong and share with them your plan to deal with the issue. If you aren't honest with your investors, your message will be inconsistent. You'll most likely end up telling them that everything is going according to plan and that everything is rosy until the day you suddenly need a new funding round because you are way off target. This type of surprise is likely to put off your investors and the consequence may be very little to no follow-on capital, and as a result you will struggle to attract new investors. Cambridge Nutraceuticals is a perfect example of how to deliver not-so-good news, gain the full support from shareholders and turn a business around as a result. 3. Treat all shareholders the same This is a rule I am extraordinarily careful with - all shareholders must have access to the same information at the same time. This is very easy to do: I send the regular reports to all SyndicateRoom shareholders at the same time and even include a note clarifying that shareholders are welcome to ask questions, but I will only answer questions as part of my regular reports so that all shareholders can see the answer. This avoids asymmetry of information amongst shareholders, which is not only illegal but also bound to annoy shareholders. By treating all shareholders the same, you are saving yourself future problems and sending a very clear message of fairness which will be appreciated by shareholders. You will inevitably encounter those shareholders that will contact you 'just for a bit more information'; stand your ground and politely but firmly explain that any answers will be sent to all at the same time, and they will respect you for it. Note that there is an obvious and natural exception to this rule: the shareholders that are also part of the board of directors, who as non-executive directors will have access to confidential information. Conclusion By reporting regularly, honestly and fairly you will go a long way earning the support of your shareholders, both in good times and bad. Remember, investors understand that companies don't always go according to plan. Whilst all investors want to see their companies succeed, until then what they really want to see is evidence that their chosen entrepreneurs are deserving of their hard-earned cash and are working hard at growing the company to the success we all hope it will become. Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website. Goncalo de Vasconcelos Editorial Standards Corrections Reprints & Permissions © 2023 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. AdChoicesPrivacy StatementDo Not Sell My Personal InformationDigital Terms of SaleTerms of ServiceContact UsReport a Security IssueJobs At ForbesReprints & PermissionsForbes Press RoomAdvertise (Forbes)

How do I write a good essay?

(read A young man in glasses sits at a table writing in a notebook. For College Application Essays.) 12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay College admission committees sift through thousands of college essays each year. Here's how to make yours stand out. Pamela Reynolds Blog Jul 26, 2022 7 minute read When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores. But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores. Instead, many (including Harvard through 2026) are opting for "test-blind" admission policies that give more weight to other elements in a college application. This policy change is seen as fairer to students who don't have the means or access to testing, or who suffer from test anxiety. So, what does this mean for you? Simply that your college essay, traditionally a requirement of any college application, is more important than ever. A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom. A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores. Below we'll discuss a few strategies you can use to help your essay stand out from the pack. We'll touch on how to start your essay, what you should write for your college essay, and elements that make for a great college essay. Be Authentic More than any other consideration, you should choose a topic or point of view that is consistent with who you truly are. Readers can sense when writers are inauthentic. Inauthenticity could mean the use of overly flowery language that no one would ever use in conversation, or it could mean choosing an inconsequential topic that reveals very little about who you are. Use your own voice, sense of humor, and a natural way of speaking. Whatever subject you choose, make sure it's something that's genuinely important to you and not a subject you've chosen just to impress. You can write about a specific experience, hobby, or personality quirk that illustrates your strengths, but also feel free to write about your weaknesses. Honesty about traits, situations, or a childhood background that you are working to improve may resonate with the reader more strongly than a glib victory speech. Grab the Reader From the Start You'll be competing with so many other applicants for an admission officer's attention. Therefore, start your essay with an opening sentence or paragraph that immediately seizes the imagination. This might be a bold statement, a thoughtful quote, a question you pose, or a descriptive scene. Starting your essay in a powerful way with a clear thesis statement can often help you along in the writing process. If your task is to tell a good story, a bold beginning can be a natural prelude to getting there, serving as a roadmap, engaging the reader from the start, and presenting the purpose of your writing. Focus on Deeper Themes Some essay writers think they will impress committees by loading an essay with facts, figures, and descriptions of activities, like wins in sports or descriptions of volunteer work. But that's not the point. College admissions officers are interested in learning more about who you are as a person and what makes you tick. They want to know what has brought you to this stage in life. They want to read about realizations you may have come to through adversity as well as your successes, not just about how many games you won while on the soccer team or how many people you served at a soup kitchen. Let the reader know how winning the soccer game helped you develop as a person, friend, family member, or leader. Make a connection with your soup kitchen volunteerism and how it may have inspired your educational journey and future aspirations. What did you discover about yourself? Show Don't Tell As you expand on whatever theme you've decided to explore in your essay, remember to show, don't tell. The most engaging writing "shows" by setting scenes and providing anecdotes, rather than just providing a list of accomplishments and activities. Reciting a list of activities is also boring. An admissions officer will want to know about the arc of your emotional journey too. Try Doing Something Different If you want your essay to stand out, think about approaching your subject from an entirely new perspective. While many students might choose to write about their wins, for instance, what if you wrote an essay about what you learned from all your losses? If you are an especially talented writer, you might play with the element of surprise by crafting an essay that leaves the response to a question to the very last sentence. You may want to stay away from well-worn themes entirely, like a sports-related obstacle or success, volunteer stories, immigration stories, moving, a summary of personal achievements or overcoming obstacles. However, such themes are popular for a reason. They represent the totality of most people's lives coming out of high school. Therefore, it may be less important to stay away from these topics than to take a fresh approach. Write With the Reader in Mind Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another. Use transitions between paragraphs. Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme? Be sure you can answer questions such as: Does what you have written make sense? Is the essay organized? Does the opening grab the reader? Is there a strong ending? Have you given enough background information? Is it wordy? Write Several Drafts Set your essay aside for a few days and come back to it after you've had some time to forget what you've written. Often, you'll discover you have a whole new perspective that enhances your ability to make revisions. Start writing months before your essay is due to give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts. A good time to start could be as early as the summer before your senior year when homework and extracurricular activities take up less time. Read It Aloud Writer's tip: Reading your essay aloud can instantly uncover passages that sound clumsy, long-winded, or false. Don't Repeat If you've mentioned an activity, story, or anecdote in some other part of your application, don't repeat it again in your essay. Your essay should tell college admissions officers something new. Whatever you write in your essay should be in philosophical alignment with the rest of your application. Also, be sure you've answered whatever question or prompt may have been posed to you at the outset. Ask Others to Read Your Essay Be sure the people you ask to read your essay represent different demographic groups—a teacher, a parent, even a younger sister or brother. Ask each reader what they took from the essay and listen closely to what they have to say. If anyone expresses confusion, revise until the confusion is cleared up. Pay Attention to Form Although there are often no strict word limits for college essays, most essays are shorter rather than longer. Common App, which students can use to submit to multiple colleges, suggests that essays stay at about 650 words. "While we won't as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you'd hoped it would," the Common App website states. In reviewing other technical aspects of your essay, be sure that the font is readable, that the margins are properly spaced, that any dialogue is set off properly, and that there is enough spacing at the top. Your essay should look clean and inviting to readers. End Your Essay With a "Kicker" In journalism, a kicker is the last punchy line, paragraph, or section that brings everything together. It provides a lasting impression that leaves the reader satisfied and impressed by the points you have artfully woven throughout your piece. So, here's our kicker: Be concise and coherent, engage in honest self-reflection, and include vivid details and anecdotes that deftly illustrate your point. While writing a fantastic essay may not guarantee you get selected, it can tip the balance in your favor if admissions officers are considering a candidate with a similar GPA and background. Write, revise, revise again, and good luck! (Harvard Summer School) The Only Guide to Essay Writing You'll Ever Need Guide to Essay Writing Matt Ellis Matt Ellis Updated on June 2, 2022 · Students Feel passionately about something and want to share it? Write an essay! Disagree with a popular opinion and wish to convince others to join you? Write an essay! Need to write something because the college you dream of attending is making you? Write an essay! "Essay" is a loose term for writing that asserts the author's opinion on a topic, whether academic, editorial, or even humorous. There are a thousand different approaches to essay writing and a million different topics to choose from, but what we've found is that good essay writing tends to follow the same framework. Give your essays extra polish Grammarly helps you write with confidence WRITE WITH GRAMMARLY Below we discuss that framework and how you can apply it to your essays, whatever types they may be. But first, let's start with the nucleus of any good essay: the topic. Your essay needs a thesis statement There are three things to consider before writing your essay: thesis, type, and audience. Of these, the most important by far is your thesis, or the crux of what your essay is about. Your thesis, encapsulated in your thesis statement, is the central point you're trying to make. The thesis of Bertrand Russell's essay "In Praise of Idleness," for example, is that people focus too much on work and don't value time spent idly. Essays can occasionally stray and go into related tangents, but they always come back to that one core idea in the thesis. You should always pinpoint your thesis before writing. If you're having trouble nailing it down, ask yourself, "What's the one thing I want my reader to remember when they're done reading my essay?" The best practice is to include your thesis as soon as possible, even in your topic sentence if it's appropriate. You'll want to reiterate it throughout the essay as well, especially when wrapping up everything in the conclusion. The rest of your essay, then, supports your thesis. You can include empirical evidence, testimonials, logical deductions, or even persuasive rhetoric—whatever gets the job done. The point is that you're building upon your initial thesis, not switching to completely different topics. Types of essays Like any form of writing, essays come in many different types. Sometimes the assignment dictates the type, as with admissions essays, and other times the thesis will determine it. Regardless, it helps to know what your options are, so here are some of the most common essay types: Argumentative essay Argumentative essays assert or defend a position. This is the most common type of school paper, so keep that in mind when writing your first college essay. Admissions essay Most colleges request an admissions essay in applications, which typically revolve around why you're interested in their school. Persuasive essay A persuasive essay is just as it sounds: an essay to persuade or convince the reader of a certain point. It's similar to an argumentative essay— they both strongly favor a particular point of view, but the difference is the end goal: Argumentative essays just have to present their case, while persuasive essays have to present their case and win over the reader. Compare-and-contrast essay When you want to devote equal attention to two opposing things, a compare-and-contrast essay works better than argumentative or persuasive essays, which lean to one side over the other. Personal essay Personal essays are often anecdotal or real-life stories of the authors, like the works of David Sedaris. Because they tend to follow narrative structures, the thesis can be flexible or interpretive. Expository essay An expository essay thoroughly explains a certain topic to expand the reader's knowledge. It is similar to an argumentative and persuasive essay in format, but with one key difference: expository essays don't have a bias. Know your essay's audience Your final consideration is who will read your essay—a teacher, an admissions counselor, your peers, the internet at large, etc. No matter what you're writing, your audience should influence your language. For one thing, your readers determine whether the essay is formal or casual, which has an enormous impact on language, word choice, and style. Take emojis for example: In a casual essay they might be welcome, but for formal writing they're not the most appropriate choice. 😓 Your audience also affects the essay's tone, or how you sound on an emotional level (enthusiastic, cautious, confident, etc.). If you'd like to know more, you can read about the 10 common types of tone here. The essay writing process If you're writing an essay, research paper, term paper, novel, short story, poem, screenplay, blog article about essay writing—when writing just about anything, really—it's crucial to follow an efficient writing process. Even if you prefer the stream of consciousness style for writing your rough draft, you still need to have an orderly system that allows you to revise and hone. For essay writing, we recommend the standard five-step writing process: 1 Brainstorming It always helps to collect your thoughts before you begin writing by brainstorming. Based on your prompt or thesis, try to generate as many ideas as possible to include in your essay. Think of as many as time allows, knowing that you'll be able to set aside the ideas that don't work later. 2 Preparing The preparation phase consists of both outlining your essay and collecting resources for evidence. Take a look at the results of your brainstorming session. First, isolate the ideas that are essential to support your thesis and then organize them in a logical and progressive order. In this stage you'll incorporate your essay structure, which we explain below. If you want empirical evidence or complementary citations, track them down now. The way you write citations depends on the style guide you're using. The three most common style guides for academics are MLA, APA, and Chicago, and each has its own particular rules and requirements for citing just about any kind of source, including newspaper articles, websites, speeches, and YouTube videos. 3 Drafting This is the main stage of essay writing where you roll up your sleeves and actually write your first draft. Remember that everything doesn't have to be perfect; this is your first draft, not your final draft, so give yourself the freedom to make errors. If you're focusing on getting every single word right, you'll miss the big picture. 4 Revising The revisions stage involves your second draft, your third draft, or even your twelfth draft if necessary. Address all the nuances and subtleties you glossed over in the first draft. Pay attention to both word choice and clarity, as well as sophisticated writing techniques like avoiding the passive voice. If you're not confident in your writing skills yet, the Grammarly Editor ensures your writing is readable, clear, and concise by offering sentence structure and word choice suggestions, plus clarity revisions as you write. Grammarly helps catch common mistakes with sentence structure—like run-on sentences, sentence fragments, passive voice, and more. 5 Proofreading When all the heavy-duty revisions are finished, it's time for the final polish. Go through your essay and correct misspellings, formatting issues, or grammatical errors. This is also where you can turn to Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant, which helps catch these common mistakes for you. Or copy and paste your writing to check your grammar and get instant feedback on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mistakes you might have missed. Essay structure Essay structure almost always follows a simple beginning-middle-end format, or in this case, an introduction-body-conclusion format. However, it's what's contained within those sections that makes all the difference. Introduction Essays follow the same guidelines for introductions as any other piece of writing, with an extra emphasis on presenting the thesis prominently, ideally in the topic sentence. By the end of your introduction paragraph, your reader should know without a doubt what your essay is about. From there, follow the conventional best practices on how to write an introduction. Body paragraphs The majority of your essay is body paragraphs, all of which support your thesis and present evidence. Pay close attention to how you organize your body paragraphs. Some arguments benefit from a logical progression, where one point leads to a second, and that second point leads to a third. Remember that the reader doesn't understand the topic like you do (that's why you're writing the essay), so structure your paragraphs in the way that's best for their comprehension. What if you're writing an argumentative essay where you compare and contrast two or more points of view? Do you present your argument first and then share opposing points of view, or do you open with your opposition's argument and then refute it? Serious writers can get pretty technical about how to organize an argumentative essay. There are three approaches in particular used often: Aristotlian (classical), Rogerian, and Toulmin. However, these can get exceedingly complicated, so for a simple essay, a basic structure will do just fine: Your point Counterpoint Evidence supporting your point and/or disproving counterpoint Conclusion Essay conclusions wrap up or summarize your thesis in a way that's easy for the reader to digest. If you get the chance, you can add a new perspective or context for understanding your thesis, but in general the conclusion should not present any new evidence or supporting data. Rather, it's more of a recap. For more specific tips, read about how to write a conclusion for an essay here. Five-paragraph essay For quick and simple essays, you don't need to get too technical with your essay structure. The five-paragraph essay structure works well in a pinch. This contains: One introduction paragraph Three body paragraphs One conclusion paragraph While this essay structure might not be flexible enough for more advanced topics, it comes in handy when speed is a factor, like during timed tests. Essay writing tips Master the five fundamentals Especially for school essays, your reader will scrutinize how well you handle the fundamentals. Knowing about essay structure and the writing process is one thing, but can you demonstrate an understanding of language style? Can you develop your thesis logically and coherently? Are your references and citations trustworthy? When you're ready for the next step of essay writing, take a look at the five concepts you must master to write better essays. The tips there pick up where this guide leaves off. Seek out another pair of eyes This tip is not just for essays; it's always advisable to have someone else read over your writing before finalizing it. All too often we miss the forest for the trees, and thinking long and hard on the same topic can give you tunnel vision. The solution is to get a fresh take from someone who's seeing it for the first time. Typically you can swap with a friend and edit each others' works. If that's not an option, however, you can also use a writing center or join a writing group online. At the very least, you should sleep on it and take another look when you're refreshed. Remember: Grammar and form are essential It's not always about what you say, but how you say it. You could have the most obvious, objectively agreeable thesis in the world, but if your writing is incoherent, confusing, and full of mistakes, it's tough to engage with your reader. For when your writing needs to make the right impact, Grammarly Premium offers full-sentence rewrites for confusing sentences—from splitting long sentences, cutting extra words, or rearranging key phrases—in addition to catching common grammar mistakes. It also gives you readability-focused formatting suggestions, so you know your writing is clear. It also helps those who are looking to improve their writing skill level in English, with suggestions for commonly misused words and phrases. Honing your writing with these elements in mind is key to relaying your point to your reader—and asserting your thesis as effectively as possible. Your writing, at its best. (Grammarly)

Oscar Pistorius

south african runner convicted of the murder of his girlfriend. His legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. (Quizlet) Oscar Pistorius South African athlete Actions Alternate titles: Blade Runner, Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius By Sieg Lindstrom Article History Table of Contents Oscar Pistorius, in full Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, byname Blade Runner, (born November 22, 1986, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African track-and-field sprinter and bilateral below-the-knee amputee who, at the 2012 London Games, became the first amputee to compete in an Olympic track event. He also was the first Paralympian to win a medal in open competition, when he earned a silver medal for his contribution to South Africa's 4 × 400 relay team at the 2011 International Association of Athletics (IAAF) world championships. His athletic accomplishments were overshadowed when he was convicted of murder in 2015. Oscar Pistorius Oscar Pistorius See all media Born: November 22, 1986 (age 36) Johannesburg South Africa Awards And Honors: Paralympic Games See all related content → Pistorius was born without a fibula bone in either of his lower legs. His legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, and six months after that he learned to walk on fibreglass pegs. His parents, the owners of a zinc-mining business, encouraged him to participate in sports. He played water polo and rugby in secondary school until he injured a knee in 2003 playing rugby. Pistorius began track training to rehabilitate that knee. Shortly after obtaining his first carbon-fibre prostheses—the source of his nickname "Blade Runner"—Pistorius won the 200-metre event at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens and claimed a bronze medal in the 100 metres. Britannica Quiz Everything Track and Field Quiz At an elite invitational competition in Rome in July 2007, Pistorius first competed internationally against able-bodied athletes, improving his best time in the 400 metres to 46.90 seconds. His impressive performances caught the attention of the international track-and-field governing body, which asked him to participate in a series of tests. The results indicated that Pistorius's high-tech prosthetic legs imparted an unfair advantage, enabling him to expend less energy than able-bodied athletes running at the same speed. In 2008 the IAAF Council banned him from able-bodied competition. Later that year, however, a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appeals panel revoked the ban, though the issue continued to cause much debate. Later that summer Pistorius won three gold medals at the Beijing Paralympics—the T43/T44 class 100 metres, 200 metres, and 400 metres—and set a world record in his class. Head injuries that Pistorius sustained in a boating accident in 2009 set him back throughout 2010, but he rebounded in 2011 to win gold in the 100 metres and 400 metres at the Paralympic World Cup before qualifying for the world championships. Although he was not a member of the relay team that raced in the final, his participation in the qualifying heats of the 4 × 400-metre relay earned Pistorius a world championship silver medal. He was the 22nd fastest 400-metre runner in the world in 2011. Although his times did not qualify him for the South African Olympic team in 2012, Pistorius was selected to race in the individual 400 metres and the 4 × 400-metre relay. When he ran in the former event at the London Games, he became the first amputee to compete in track at the Olympics. Although he reached the semifinals, Pistorius failed to advance to the medal round. In the 4 × 400 relay, his team made the finals but did not medal. On February 14, 2013, Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend inside his home, a walled complex near Pretoria. He claimed that he had mistaken her for a burglar who was hidden inside a locked bathroom and that the shooting was accidental. Pistorius was subsequently charged with murder and released on bail. His trial began in March 2014, and in September he was found not guilty of murder, but he was convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide. The following month Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison. In October 2015, however, he was released, with the remainder of his sentence to be served under house arrest. On December 3 of that year, a five-judge appeals court found that the lower court did not properly apply the rule of dolus eventualis—a South African legal concept that hinges upon whether the accused foresaw the possibility of death as a potential outcome of his actions—and found Pistorius guilty of murder, overturning his previous conviction. In July 2016 he was sentenced to six years in prison, and in November 2017 South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal increased the sentence to 13 years and five months. Sieg Lindstrom The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica homicide Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment homicide law Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Top Questions How is a homicide defined? When is a homicide classified as a murder? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Hear professor Robert Hanlon talk on Tom Odle's brutal homicide case and the publishing of the book "Survived By One: The Life and Mind of a Family Mass Murderer" Hear professor Robert Hanlon talk on Tom Odle's brutal homicide case and the publishing of the book "Survived By One: The Life and Mind of a Family Mass Murderer"See all videos for this article homicide, the killing of one human being by another. Homicide is a general term and may refer to a noncriminal act as well as the criminal act of murder. Some homicides are considered justifiable, such as the killing of a person to prevent the commission of a serious felony or to aid a representative of the law. Other homicides are said to be excusable, as when a person kills in self-defense. A criminal homicide is one that is not regarded by the applicable criminal code as justifiable or excusable. All legal systems make important distinctions between different types of homicide, and punishments vary greatly according to the intent of the killer, the dangerousness of the killer's conduct, and the circumstances of the act. Tate murders: crime scene Tate murders: crime scene See all media Key People: Oscar Pistorius Related Topics: genocide euthanasia infanticide manslaughter murder See all related content → Anglo-American codes classify homicides into two or more separate crimes, each crime carrying its own penalty, which can be varied within limits by the sentencing authority. Thus, murder is a homicide committed intentionally or as a result of the commission of another serious offense. The crime of manslaughter includes killings that are the result of recklessness or a violent emotional outburst, as might result from provocation. Penalties for murder may include capital punishment or life imprisonment, whereas the penalty for manslaughter is usually a maximum number of years in confinement. Britannica Quiz Famous Serial Killers European codes and their derivatives group all unjustified killings under the single crime of homicide but specify different penalties depending on the circumstances of the act. Some countries provide special penalties in unique situations in accordance with special social needs. For example, Japan reserves its harshest penalties for the murder of one's own lineal descendents, and Italy allows for mitigated punishment if killers acted from a sudden intense passion to avenge their honour. European codes, like Anglo-American codes, distinguish between intentional and other felony murders on the one hand and reckless, negligent, and provoked murders on the other. In all systems the most important distinction relevant to sentencing is that between conduct that is socially dangerous and conduct that is merely reckless (i.e., between acts of intent and acts of passion). Anglo-American systems require an element of intent, or malice aforethought, in the act of murder. This includes "transferred intent"—as when one who intends to kill another kills a third person by mistake—and intent that may be inferred from the extreme recklessness or dangerousness of the act. Indian law requires that offenders know of the danger they might cause and thus rules out reckless acts that are the result of ignorance, but other jurisdictions are less clear on this point. Many U.S. states distinguish between murder of the first and of the second degree, with capital punishment limited to crimes of clear intent. European civil-law codes place a greater emphasis than do common-law systems on the dangerousness of the actor's conduct and the circumstances surrounding the act. Thus, bodily injury resulting in death and death that is a result of negligence rather than recklessness are more heavily penalized in European than in Anglo-American systems. Whereas in England death resulting from a felony is defined as murder only in the case of a few serious crimes, such as robbery or rape, European codes often punish any killer as a murderer if the culprit has employed a deadly weapon. Unlike the provisions of most law codes in the Western world, murder under Islamic law is generally treated as a civil infraction—although Muslim jurisprudence does not clearly distinguish between civil and criminal law. Under traditional Islamic law, the family of a murdered Muslim is given the choice of taking retribution (Arabic: qiṣāṣ), which allows them or their proxy to take the murderer's life, or accepting wergild (Arabic: diyah), or compensation, from the killer or the killer's family. The Islamic tradition extols the latter, and, in the case of an accidental death, financial compensation by the offending party (in addition to an act of contrition) is the sole remedy. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now During the 1990s the legal definitions of homicide in the West changed somewhat as a result of new attitudes toward the elderly and the terminally ill. Traditionally, European codes acquitted a person for a "mercy killing," whereas Anglo-American codes did not, but in the 1990s a widespread "right to die" movement in North America and Europe sought the legalization of certain forms of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. In 1997 physician-assisted suicide was legalized in the U.S. state of Oregon, and in 2000 the Netherlands became the first country to enact a national law providing physicians with immunity from prosecution for mercy killings. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Patricia Bauer. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Ether

1. CHEMISTRY a pleasant-smelling colorless volatile liquid that is highly flammable. It is used as an anesthetic and as a solvent or intermediate in industrial processes. 2. LITERARY the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds. "nasty gases and smoke disperse into the ether" (Online defs)

mortar

1. a mixture of sand, water, lime, and cement used in building for holding bricks and stones together 2. a heavy gun that fires bombs and shells high into the air; the bombs that are fired by this gun

Kevlar

A strong synthetic material used in the construction of protective clothing and equipment. Kevlar is similar to carbon fibre matting. Very strong plastic material woven to form a mat. Common Uses: Kevlar is used make items as badminton and tennis rackets, helmets and bullet-proof vests. Body armour (Quizlet) Trademark a synthetic fiber of high tensile strength used especially as a reinforcing agent in the manufacture of tires and other rubber products and protective gear such as helmets and vests. (Online def)

abscess

Collection of pus underneath the skin [or within body tissue] (quizlet) A confined pocket of pus that collects in tissues, organs, or spaces inside the body. When an area in the body becomes infected, the body's immune system sends white blood cells to fight the infection. These cells collect and combine with the damaged tissue and germs, creating liquid called pus. An abscess is characterized by a painful, swollen lump that's filled with pus. Treatments include draining the abscess and antibiotics. Common More than 200,000 US cases per year Treatable by a medical professional Usually self-diagnosable Lab tests or imaging rarely required Short-term: resolves within days to weeks For informational purposes only. Consult your local medical authority for advice. [online def]

freeloader

a person who takes advantage of others' generosity without giving anything in return someone who takes advantage of the generosity of others (-)

cardsharp

a person, especially a professional gambler, who cheats at card games

podiatrist

a specialist in care for the feet

reprisal

an act of retaliation

Octopus and squid

a sea animal that has a soft body and eight long arms (Quizlet) octopus mollusk order Actions Alternate titles: Octopoda, octopi By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jan 5, 2023 Article History Table of Contents octopus, plural octopuses or octopi, in general, any eight-armed cephalopod (octopod) mollusk of the order Octopoda. The true octopuses are members of the genus Octopus, a large group of widely distributed shallow-water cephalopods. (See cephalopod.) common octopus common octopus See all media Related Topics: blanket octopus Cirrata Incirrata finned octopod paper nautilus See all related content → day octopus day octopus blue-ringed octopus blue-ringed octopus blue-ringed octopus blue-ringed octopus Octopuses vary greatly in size: the smallest, O. arborescens, is about 5 cm (2 inches) long, while the largest species may grow to 5.4 metres (18 feet) in length and have an arm span of almost 9 metres (30 feet). The typical octopus has a saccular body: the head is only slightly demarcated from the body and has large, complex eyes and eight contractile arms. Each arm bears two rows of fleshy suckers that are capable of great holding power. The arms are joined at their bases by a web of tissue known as the skirt, at the centre of which lies the mouth. The latter organ has a pair of sharp, horny beaks and a filelike organ, the radula, for drilling shells and rasping away flesh. Britannica Quiz Deadliest Animals Quiz common octopus common octopus octopus octopus The octopus takes water into its mantle and expels the water after respiration through a short funnel or siphon. Most octopuses move by crawling along the bottom with their arms and suckers, though when alarmed they may shoot swiftly backward by ejecting a jet of water from the siphon. When endangered they eject an inky substance, which is used as a screen; the substance produced by some species paralyzes the sensory organs of the attacker. common octopus common octopus Know how colorblind cephalopods like octopuses and squids know what colors to change to hide from predators or to attract mates Know how colorblind cephalopods like octopuses and squids know what colors to change to hide from predators or to attract matesSee all videos for this article The best-known octopus is the common octopus, O. vulgaris, a medium-sized animal that is widely distributed in tropical and temperate seas throughout the world. It lives in holes or crevices along the rocky bottom and is secretive and retiring by nature. It feeds mainly on crabs and other crustaceans. This species is thought to be the most intelligent of all invertebrate animals. O. vulgaris has highly developed pigment-bearing cells and can change its skin colours to an astonishing degree with great rapidity. Each pigment-bearing cell (chromatophore) is individually innervated from the brain. The veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) is also known for its intelligence. In 2009 biologists reported having observed the animals excavating coconut half shells from the ocean floor and carrying them for use as portable shelters. Such behaviour is regarded by biologists as the first documented example of tool use by an invertebrate. octopus octopus Octopuses have separate sexes, and the male has a specially modified arm, called a hectocotylus, by means of which it inserts spermatophores, or packets of sperm, directly into the female's mantle cavity. O. vulgaris mates during the winter, and the eggs, about 0.3 cm (1/8 inch) long, are laid under rocks or in holes, the total number of eggs amounting to more than 100,000. During the four to eight weeks required for the larvae to hatch, the female guards the eggs, cleaning them with her suckers and agitating them with water. Upon hatching, the tiny octopods, which closely resemble their parents, spend several weeks drifting in the plankton before taking refuge on the bottom. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Dumbo octopus Dumbo octopus See how the traditional Greek delicacy of octopus and tomato sauce is made See how the traditional Greek delicacy of octopus and tomato sauce is madeSee all videos for this article Follow researchers into the waters off Vancouver Island in search of the giant Pacific octopus Follow researchers into the waters off Vancouver Island in search of the giant Pacific octopusSee all videos for this article Octopuses feed mainly upon crabs and lobsters, although some are plankton feeders, and they are fed upon by a number of marine fishes. They have long been considered a culinary delicacy by peoples of the Mediterranean, East Asia, and other parts of the world. This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. squid Table of Contents Home Science Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates Mollusks squid cephalopod order Actions Alternate titles: Teuthida, Teuthoidea By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Top Questions What is a squid? What does a squid look like? What is the smallest squid? What is the largest squid? squid, any of more than 300 species of 10-armed cephalopods classified within the order Teuthoidea (or Teuthida) and found in both coastal and oceanic waters. Squids may be swift swimmers or part of the drifting sea life (plankton). squid squid See all media Related Topics: giant squid Cranchiidae Oegopsida Myopsida Illex See all related content → Squids have elongated tubular bodies and short compact heads. Two of the 10 arms have developed into long slender tentacles with expanded ends and four rows of suckers with toothed, horny rings. The body of most squids is strengthened by a feathery-shaped internal shell composed of a horny material. Squid eyes, almost as complex as human eyes, are usually set into the sides of the head. Britannica Quiz Deadliest Animals Quiz Little is known of the life history of squids. Some attach their eggs to floating weeds and others to the ocean bottom. In some species the young resemble the adults at hatching, while in others there is a planktonic larval stage. The luminescent squids bear numerous light organs, which may be for recognition and for attracting prey (see also bioluminescence). Squids are numerous in the sea and serve as food for many animals, including the sperm whale, bony fishes, and human beings. giant squid (Architeuthis) giant squid (Architeuthis) The smallest squid is the Southern pygmy squid (Idiosepius notoides); males grow only to about 1.6 cm (less than 3/4 inch) in length. The largest squids—giant squids and colossal squids—are also the largest living invertebrates. Some researchers place giant squids and colossal squids into the genus Architeuthis, whereas others separate them into the genera Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis respectively. The largest recovered giant squids and colossal squids have measured nearly 13 metres (about 43 feet) long, but there are unconfirmed reports of individuals more than 20 metres (more than 65 feet) in length. This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

a priori knowledge

a priori knowledge philosophy Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic a priori knowledge, in Western philosophy since the time of Immanuel Kant, knowledge that is acquired independently of any particular experience, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which is derived from experience. The Latin phrases a priori ("from what is before") and a posteriori ("from what is after") were used in philosophy originally to distinguish between arguments from causes and arguments from effects. Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant See all media Key People: Plato Immanuel Kant René Descartes Rudolf Carnap Saul Kripke Related Topics: philosophy synthetic a priori proposition analytic-synthetic distinction rational psychology analytic a priori proposition ... (Show more) See all related content → The first recorded occurrence of the phrases is in the writings of the 14th-century logician Albert of Saxony. Here, an argument a priori is said to be "from causes to the effect" and an argument a posteriori to be "from effects to causes." Similar definitions were given by many later philosophers down to and including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), and the expressions still occur sometimes with these meanings in nonphilosophical contexts. Latent in the distinction between the a priori and the a posteriori for Kant is the antithesis between necessary truth and contingent truth (a truth is necessary if it cannot be denied without contradiction). The former applies to a priori judgments, which are arrived at independently of experience and hold universally, and the latter applies to a posteriori judgments, which are dependent on experience and therefore must acknowledge possible exceptions. In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781; 1787) Kant used these distinctions, in part, to explain the special case of mathematical knowledge, which he regarded as the fundamental example of a priori knowledge. Although the use of the term a priori to distinguish knowledge such as that exemplified in mathematics is comparatively recent, the interest of philosophers in that kind of knowledge is almost as old as philosophy itself. In ordinary life, no one finds it puzzling that one can acquire knowledge by looking, feeling, or listening. But philosophers who have taken seriously the possibility of learning by mere thinking have often considered it to require some special explanation. Plato maintained in his dialogues Meno and Phaedo that the learning of geometrical truths involved the recollection of knowledge possessed by the soul in a disembodied existence before its possessor's birth, when it could contemplate the eternal Forms directly. St. Augustine and his medieval followers, sympathizing with Plato's conclusions but unable to accept the details of his theory, declared that such eternal ideas were in the mind of God, who from time to time gave intellectual illumination to human beings. René Descartes, going further in the same direction, held that all the ideas required for a priori knowledge were innate in each human mind. For Kant the puzzle was to explain the possibility of a priori judgments that were also synthetic (i.e., not merely explicative of concepts), and the solution that he proposed was the doctrine that space, time, and the categories (e.g., causality), about which such judgments could be made, were forms imposed by the mind on the stuff of experience. In each of these theories the possibility of a priori knowledge is explained by a suggestion that there exists a privileged opportunity for studying the subject matter of such knowledge. The same conception recurs also in the very un-Platonic theory of a priori knowledge first enunciated by Thomas Hobbes in his De Corpore and adopted in the 20th century by the logical empiricists. According to this theory, statements of necessity are knowable a priori because they are merely by-products of rules governing the use of language. In the 1970s the American philosopher Saul Kripke challenged the Kantian view by arguing persuasively that there are propositions that are necessarily true but knowable only a posteriori and propositions that are contingently true but knowable a priori. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan. dialectic Table of Contents Home Philosophy & Religion Philosophical Issues dialectic logic Actions Alternate titles: dialectics By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Dec 30, 2022 Article History Table of Contents dialectic, also called dialectics, originally a form of logical argumentation but now a philosophical concept of evolution applied to diverse fields including thought, nature, and history. Key People: Aenesidemus Aristotle Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Jakob Böhme David Friedrich Strauss Related Topics: philosophy Socratic method See all related content → Among the classical Greek thinkers, the meanings of dialectic ranged from a technique of refutation in debate, through a method for systematic evaluation of definitions, to the investigation and classification of the relationships between specific and general concepts. From the time of the Stoic philosophers until the end of the European Middle Ages, dialectic was more or less closely identified with the discipline of formal logic. More recently, Immanuel Kant denoted by "transcendental dialectic" the endeavour of exposing the illusion involved in attempting to use the categories and principles of the understanding beyond the bounds of phenomena and possible experience. G.W.F. Hegel identified dialectic as the tendency of a notion to pass over into its own negation as the result of conflict between its inherent contradictory aspects. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels adopted Hegel's definition and applied it to social and economic processes. See also dialectical materialism. More From Britannica Plato: Dialectic of Plato Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

incontrovertible

not able to be denied or disputed

Seasonable

occurring at the proper time or season; opportune; Ex. seasonable intervention in the dispute (Quizlet) ARCHAIC coming at the right time or meeting the needs of the occasion; opportune. (Online def)

cool

of or at a fairly low temperature. "it'll be a cool afternoon" showing no friendliness toward a person or enthusiasm for an idea or project. "he gave a cool reception to the suggestion for a research center" 2. calmness; composure. "he recovered his cool and then started laughing at us" (Online defs)

Upsell

persuade a customer to buy something additional or more expensive. "how to upsell without turning off your customer" (Online def)

nice

pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. "we had a nice time" fine or subtle. "a nice distinction" (Online defs)

Psychotropic

relating to or denoting drugs that affect a person's mental state. "a psychotropic drug" (Online def)

Bestiality or Zoophilia

sexual contact or experiences with animals

Heartfelt

showing strong feelings that are sincere

Monofilament

single strand of material; used to describe suture

quid pro quo

something given in exchange or return for something else

Mea culpa

statement [said] to show personal responsibility for a wrong

assure

tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have. "Tony assured me that there was a supermarket in the village" Similar: reassure convince satisfy persuade guarantee promise tell prove to certify to attest to confirm to affirm to pledge to swear to give one's word to give one's assurance to vow to declare to make (someone) sure of something. "she assured herself that he was asleep" 2. make (something) certain to happen. "victory was now assured" 3. BRITISH cover (a person) with life insurance. "we guarantee to assure your life" Similar: insure provide insurance for cover indemnify guarantee warrant secure the future payment of (an amount) with insurance. "the sum assured can be paid as a lump sum" (Online defs)

theatricality

the quality of being exaggerated and excessively dramatic

readiness

the state of being fully prepared for something. "your muscles tense in readiness for action" (Online def)

oblivion

the state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening (n.) forgetfulness, disregard; a state of being forgotten; an amnesty, general pardon

fame

the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed (Quiz let) The state of being or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements. (Online def)

propitiate

to conciliate; to appease; to win over (Quizlet) win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them. "the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices" (Online def)

Incite

to rouse, stir up, urge on (Quizlet) encourage or stir up (violent or unlawful behavior). "the offense of inciting racial hatred" (Online def)

posturing

behave in a way that is intended to impress or mislead others

Circumfluent

characterized by flowing around or surrounding

raiment

clothing, garments

vesture

clothing, garments

Ergo

conj. therefore

weave

create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton

invalid

not good enough; not correct

peacock

noun. pea·​cock ˈpē-ˌkäk. : a male peafowl distinguished by a crest of upright feathers and by greatly elongated loosely webbed upper tail coverts which are mostly tipped with iridescent spots and are erected and spread in a shimmering fan usually as a courtship display.Jan 6, 2023 (Merriam Webster) : a large male bird that has a very long bright blue and green tail that it can lift up and spread apart like a fan (The Britannica Dictionary) peacock bird Actions Alternate titles: peafowl, peahen By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic peacock, also called peafowl, any of three species of resplendent birds of the pheasant family, Phasianidae (order Galliformes). Strictly, the male is a peacock, and the female is a peahen; both are peafowl. The two most-recognizable species of peafowl are the blue, or Indian, peacock (Pavo cristatus), of India and Sri Lanka, and the green, or Javanese, peacock (P. muticus), found from Myanmar (Burma) to Java. The Congo peacock (Afropavo congensis), which inhabits the forested interior of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was discovered in 1936 after a search that began in 1913 with the finding of a single feather. blue peacock blue peacock See all media Related Topics: Phasianidae See all related content → Natural history In blue and green peacocks, the male has a 90-130-cm (35-50-inch) body and 150-cm (60-inch) train of tail feathers that are coloured a brilliant metallic green. This train is mainly formed of the bird's upper tail coverts, which are enormously elongated. Each feather is tipped with an iridescent eyespot that is ringed with blue and bronze. In courtship displays, the cock elevates his tail, which lies under the train, thus elevating the train and bringing it forward. At the climax of this display, the tail feathers are vibrated, giving the feathers of the train a shimmering appearance and making a rustling sound. Britannica Quiz Animals: Fact or Fiction? blue peacock blue peacock The blue peacock's body feathers are mostly metallic blue-green. The green peacock, with a train much like that of the blue, has green and bronze body feathers. Hens of both species are green and brown and are almost as big as the male but lack the train and the head ornament. In the wild, both species live in open lowland forests, flocking by day and roosting high in trees at night. During the breeding season, the male forms a harem of two to five hens, each of which lays four to eight whitish eggs in a depression in the ground. The eggs are incubated by the peahen until they hatch some 28 days later. The chicks have all of their feathers when they emerge from their eggs and are capable of flight roughly one week after hatching. Most blue and green peafowl become sexually mature at age three. However, some male blue peafowl have been known to breed as early as age two. As an ornamental bird, the peacock is a staple resident of many of the world's zoos and has long been famous throughout the Old World. Green peacocks in captivity must be kept apart from other fowl, though, because of their aggressive disposition. Blue peacocks, though native to warm humid climates, can survive northern winters. Green peacocks, however, cannot tolerate much cold. The Congo peacock is the only large phasianid in Africa. The cock is mainly blue and green with a short rounded tail. The hen is reddish and green with a brown topknot. The species is smaller than those in genus Pavo, growing to roughly between 64 and 70 cm (25 to 28 inches) in length by adulthood. Conservation status The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the blue peafowl as a species of least concern. However, the green peacock is classified by the IUCN as an endangered species. The green peacock's population declined significantly during the latter half of the 20th century because of overhunting and the destruction of large parts of its natural habitat; the species is now thought to number between 10,000 and 20,000 adults. The IUCN has classified the Congo peafowl as a vulnerable species. Its population has fallen to fewer than 10,000 adults because of hunting and habitat loss.. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty. pheasant Table of Contents Home Science Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates Birds pheasant bird Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents pheasant, any bird of the family Phasianidae (order Galliformes) that is larger than a quail or partridge. Most pheasants—some 50 species in about 16 genera of the subfamily Phasianinae—are long-tailed birds of open woodlands and fields, where they feed in small flocks. All have hoarse calls and a variety of other notes. The males of most species are strikingly coloured; the females are inconspicuously coloured. A male pheasant—pugnacious in breeding season—has one or more leg spurs and may have fleshy ornaments on the face. Courting males sometimes fight to the death in the presence of hens, who seem utterly indifferent to the commotion. Common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) pheasant See all media Related Topics: monal winged game ruffed pheasant tragopan argus pheasant See all related content → The centre of distribution of pheasants was originally from China to Malaysia. Several species, however, have been naturalized elsewhere—two thousand years ago or so in Anatolia and Europe—and many are prized as ornamentals in zoos and private collections; they are also raised for sport in shooting preserves. Some species have been brought to the verge of extinction by hunting. Britannica Quiz Ultimate Animals Quiz The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) has 20-30 races ranging across Asia. Birds naturalized elsewhere are mixtures of races, with the gray-rumped ringneck (or Chinese) strain usually dominating. The pheasant prefers grain fields near brushy cover. The male, about 90 cm (35 inches) long, with streaming, narrow, cross-barred tail, has a brown back and coppery breast, purplish-green neck, and two small ear tufts; his entire body is speckled and barred. He collects a harem of about three brownish, relatively short-tailed hens. The grassy nest contains about 10 eggs, which hatch in three to four weeks. The green pheasant, or kiji (P. versicolor), of Japan, is mainly metallic green. It is sensitive to earth tremors not felt by humans and calls in concert when a quake impends. The argus pheasants, of southeastern Asia, carry long feathers covered with "eyes." Two distinct types are known: the crested argus, or ocellated pheasants (Rheinardia), and the great argus (Argusianus). The great argus of Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo (A. argus) can attain a length of 2 m (6.5 feet). During display the large "eyes" seem to revolve as the bird quivers. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Lady Amherst's ruffed pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) Ornamental pheasants have been kept for centuries, and the birds are represented in collections throughout the world. The best-known ornamentals in the West are two species of ruffed pheasants: Lady Amherst's (Chrysolophus amherstiae) and the golden pheasant (C. pictus). Several pheasants are of exceptional coloration. Such are the monals, or Impeyan pheasants, of south-central Asia. The male Himalayan Impeyan (Lophophorus impejanus) has a metallic-green head and throat, coppery nape and neck, green-gold mantle, purplish wings, white back, orangish tail, and black underparts; the hen is streaked brown. The Chinese monal (L. lhuysii), now found only in western China, is an endangered species. The male tragopans, or horned pheasants (Tragopan species), of Asia also, are among the world's most colourful birds. They show a bright apron of flesh under the bill during courtship, and short fleshy horns. The white-spotted plumage may be mainly red, yellow, or gray. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Upswell

the forceful movement of water rushing up towards the surface

moonlight

the light of the moon (Quizlet) have a second job in addition to one's regular employment. "many instructors moonlight as professional consultants" (Online def)

nervous system

the network of nerve cells and fibers that transmits nerve impulses between parts of the body. (Wuizlet) nervous system anatomy Actions By Thomas L. LentzSee All Last Updated: Jan 6, 2023 Article History Table of Contents Summary Read a brief summary of this topic nervous system, organized group of cells specialized for the conduction of electrochemical stimuli from sensory receptors through a network to the site at which a response occurs. neuron; conduction of the action potential neuron; conduction of the action potential See all media Key People: David Hunter Hubel Roger Wolcott Sperry Ivan Pavlov Galen Johannes Müller Related Topics: human ear human sensory reception olfactory system taste bud eye See all related content → Follow the electrical and chemical changes undergone to transmit an impulse through the human nervous system Follow the electrical and chemical changes undergone to transmit an impulse through the human nervous systemSee all videos for this article All living organisms are able to detect changes within themselves and in their environments. Changes in the external environment include those of light, temperature, sound, motion, and odour, while changes in the internal environment include those in the position of the head and limbs as well as in the internal organs. Once detected, these internal and external changes must be analyzed and acted upon in order to survive. As life on Earth evolved and the environment became more complex, the survival of organisms depended upon how well they could respond to changes in their surroundings. One factor necessary for survival was a speedy reaction or response. Since communication from one cell to another by chemical means was too slow to be adequate for survival, a system evolved that allowed for faster reaction. That system was the nervous system, which is based upon the almost instantaneous transmission of electrical impulses from one region of the body to another along specialized nerve cells called neurons. invertebrate: nervous system invertebrate: nervous system cnidarian nervous system cnidarian nervous system brain structure of the cat brain structure of the cat Nervous systems are of two general types, diffuse and centralized. In the diffuse type of system, found in lower invertebrates, there is no brain, and neurons are distributed throughout the organism in a netlike pattern. In the centralized systems of higher invertebrates and vertebrates, a portion of the nervous system has a dominant role in coordinating information and directing responses. This centralization reaches its culmination in vertebrates, which have a well-developed brain and spinal cord. Impulses are carried to and from the brain and spinal cord by nerve fibres that make up the peripheral nervous system. This article begins with a discussion of the general features of nervous systems—that is, their function of responding to stimuli and the rather uniform electrochemical processes by which they generate a response. Following that is a discussion of the various types of nervous systems, from the simplest to the most complex. Britannica Quiz Human Organs Solomon D. Erulkar Form and function of nervous systems Stimulus-response coordination The simplest type of response is a direct one-to-one stimulus-response reaction. A change in the environment is the stimulus; the reaction of the organism to it is the response. In single-celled organisms, the response is the result of a property of the cell fluid called irritability. In simple organisms, such as algae, protozoans, and fungi, a response in which the organism moves toward or away from the stimulus is called taxis. In larger and more complicated organisms—those in which response involves the synchronization and integration of events in different parts of the body—a control mechanism, or controller, is located between the stimulus and the response. In multicellular organisms, this controller consists of two basic mechanisms by which integration is achieved—chemical regulation and nervous regulation. In chemical regulation, substances called hormones are produced by well-defined groups of cells and are either diffused or carried by the blood to other areas of the body where they act on target cells and influence metabolism or induce synthesis of other substances. The changes resulting from hormonal action are expressed in the organism as influences on, or alterations in, form, growth, reproduction, and behaviour. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Plants respond to a variety of external stimuli by utilizing hormones as controllers in a stimulus-response system. Directional responses of movement are known as tropisms and are positive when the movement is toward the stimulus and negative when it is away from the stimulus. When a seed germinates, the growing stem turns upward toward the light, and the roots turn downward away from the light. Thus, the stem shows positive phototropism and negative geotropism, while the roots show negative phototropism and positive geotropism. In this example, light and gravity are the stimuli, and directional growth is the response. The controllers are certain hormones synthesized by cells in the tips of the plant stems. These hormones, known as auxins, diffuse through the tissues beneath the stem tip and concentrate toward the shaded side, causing elongation of these cells and, thus, a bending of the tip toward the light. The end result is the maintenance of the plant in an optimal condition with respect to light. In animals, in addition to chemical regulation via the endocrine system, there is another integrative system called the nervous system. A nervous system can be defined as an organized group of cells, called neurons, specialized for the conduction of an impulse—an excited state—from a sensory receptor through a nerve network to an effector, the site at which the response occurs. Organisms that possess a nervous system are capable of much more complex behaviour than are organisms that do not. The nervous system, specialized for the conduction of impulses, allows rapid responses to environmental stimuli. Many responses mediated by the nervous system are directed toward preserving the status quo, or homeostasis, of the animal. Stimuli that tend to displace or disrupt some part of the organism call forth a response that results in reduction of the adverse effects and a return to a more normal condition. Organisms with a nervous system are also capable of a second group of functions that initiate a variety of behaviour patterns. Animals may go through periods of exploratory or appetitive behaviour, nest building, and migration. Although these activities are beneficial to the survival of the species, they are not always performed by the individual in response to an individual need or stimulus. Finally, learned behaviour can be superimposed on both the homeostatic and initiating functions of the nervous system. Intracellular systems All living cells have the property of irritability, or responsiveness to environmental stimuli, which can affect the cell in different ways, producing, for example, electrical, chemical, or mechanical changes. These changes are expressed as a response, which may be the release of secretory products by gland cells, the contraction of muscle cells, the bending of a plant-stem cell, or the beating of whiplike "hairs," or cilia, by ciliated cells. The responsiveness of a single cell can be illustrated by the behaviour of the relatively simple amoeba. Unlike some other protozoans, an amoeba lacks highly developed structures that function in the reception of stimuli and in the production or conduction of a response. The amoeba behaves as though it had a nervous system, however, because the general responsiveness of its cytoplasm serves the functions of a nervous system. An excitation produced by a stimulus is conducted to other parts of the cell and evokes a response by the animal. An amoeba will move to a region of a certain level of light. It will be attracted by chemicals given off by foods and exhibit a feeding response. It will also withdraw from a region with noxious chemicals and exhibit an avoidance reaction upon contacting other objects. Organelle systems In more-complex protozoans, specialized cellular structures, or organelles, serve as receptors of stimulus and as effectors of response. Receptors include stiff sensory bristles in ciliates and the light-sensitive eyespots of flagellates. Effectors include cilia (slender, hairlike projections from the cell surface), flagella (elongated, whiplike cilia), and other organelles associated with drawing in food or with locomotion. Protozoans also have subcellular cytoplasmic filaments that, like muscle tissue, are contractile. The vigorous contraction of the protozoan Vorticella, for example, is the result of contraction of a threadlike structure called a myoneme in the stalk. Although protozoans clearly have specialized receptors and effectors, it is not certain that there are special conducting systems between the two. In a ciliate such as Paramecium, the beating of the cilia—which propels it along—is not random, but coordinated. Beating of the cilia begins at one end of the organism and moves in regularly spaced waves to the other end, suggesting that coordinating influences are conducted longitudinally. A system of fibrils connecting the bodies in which the cilia are rooted may provide conducting paths for the waves, but coordination of the cilia may also take place without such a system. Each cilium may respond to a stimulus carried over the cell surface from an adjacent cilium—in which case, coordination would be the result of a chain reaction from cilium to cilium. The best evidence that formed structures are responsible for coordination comes from another ciliate, Euplotes, which has a specialized band of ciliary rows (membranelles) and widely separated tufts of cilia (cirri). By means of the coordinated action of these structures, Euplotes is capable of several complicated movements in addition to swimming (e.g., turning sharply, moving backward, spinning). The five cirri at the rear of the organism are connected to the anterior end in an area known as the motorium. The fibres of the motorium apparently provide coordination between the cirri and the membranelles. The membranelles, cirri, and motorium constitute a neuromotor system. Nervous systems The basic pattern of stimulus-response coordination in animals is an organization of receptor, adjustor, and effector units. External stimuli are received by the receptor cells, which, in most cases, are neurons. (In a few instances, a receptor is a non-nervous sensory epithelial cell, such as a hair cell of the inner ear or a taste cell, which stimulates adjacent neurons.) The stimulus is modified, or transduced, into an electrical impulse in the receptor neuron. This incoming excitation, or afferent impulse, then passes along an extension, or axon, of the receptor to an adjustor, called an interneuron. (All neurons are capable of conducting an impulse, which is a brief change in the electrical charge on the cell membrane. Such an impulse can be transmitted, without loss in strength, many times along an axon until the message, or input, reaches another neuron, which in turn is excited.) The interneuron-adjustor selects, interprets, or modifies the input from the receptor and sends an outgoing, or efferent, impulse to an efferent neuron, such as a motor neuron. The efferent neuron, in turn, makes contact with an effector such as a muscle or gland, which produces a response. In the simplest arrangement, the receptor-adjustor-effector units form a functional group known as the reflex arc. Sensory cells carry afferent impulses to a central interneuron, which makes contact with a motor neuron. The motor neuron carries efferent impulses to the effector, which produces the response. Three types of neurons are involved in this reflex arc, but a two-neuron arc, in which the receptor makes contact directly with the motor neuron, also occurs. In a two-neuron arc, simple reflexes are prompt, short-lived, and automatic and involve only a part of the body. Examples of simple reflexes are the contraction of a muscle in response to stretch, the blink of the eye when the cornea is touched, and salivation at the sight of food. Reflexes of this type are usually involved in maintaining homeostasis. The differences between simple and complex nervous systems lie not in the basic units but in their arrangement. In higher nervous systems, there are more interneurons concentrated in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) that mediate the impulses between afferent and efferent neurons. Sensory impulses from particular receptors travel through specific neuronal pathways to the central nervous system. Within the central nervous system, though, the impulse can travel through multiple pathways formed by numerous neurons. Theoretically, the impulse can be distributed to any of the efferent motor neurons and produce a response in any of the effectors. It is also possible for many kinds of stimuli to produce the same response. As a result of the integrative action of the interneuron, the behaviour of the organism is more than the simple sum of its reflexes; it is an integrated whole that exhibits coordination between many individual reflexes. Reflexes can occur in a complicated sequence producing elaborate behaviour patterns. Behaviour in such cases is characterized not by inherited, stereotyped responses but by flexibility and adaptability to circumstances. Many automatic, unconditioned reflexes can be modified by or adapted to new stimuli. The experiments of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, for example, showed that if an animal salivates at the sight of food while another stimulus, such as the sound of a bell, occurs simultaneously, the sound alone can induce salivation after several trials. This response, known as a conditioned reflex, is a form of learning. The behaviour of the animal is no longer limited by fixed, inherited reflex arcs but can be modified by experience and exposure to an unlimited number of stimuli. The most evolved nervous systems are capable of even higher associative functions such as thinking and memory. The complex manipulation of the signals necessary for these functions depends to a great extent on the number and intricacy of the arrangement of interneurons. Thomas L. Lentz Solomon D. Erulkar Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

ipso facto

by the very fact

biodegradble

capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. (Online def) Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Difficulty Level : Easy Last Updated : 05 Dec, 2022 Read Discuss Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable are types of waste materials (or substances) that are categorized on the basis of their degradation. Biodegradable materials are substances that can be decomposed or broken down by microorganisms and other living organisms. Biodegradables generally include organic wastes like leftover foodstuffs, kitchen waste like fruits and vegetable peels, etc. However, Non-Biodegradable materials are substances that cannot be decomposed or broken down by microorganisms and other living organisms rather leading to pollution. Non-Biodegradables are generally inorganic wastes like plastic bags, cans, bottles, chemicals, etc. Let's learn more about Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable waste materials in this article! What is Biodegradable? A biodegradable substance or material is one that may quickly break down by bacteria or any other natural organisms without contributing to pollution. Kitchen waste, food waste, and other naturally occurring waste are a few examples of biodegradable waste. Biodegradable wastes are waste materials that are and can be easily degraded by natural factors like microbes (e.g., bacteria, fungi, and a few others), and abiotic components like temperature, UV, oxygen, etc. Together with other abiotic components, microorganisms decompose complicated materials into simple organic matter that eventually suspends and dissipates into the earth. The entire procedure, which might go quickly or slowly, is natural. Therefore, there are very few hazards and environmental problems associated with biodegradable garbage. Examples of Biodegradable Materials Here are some important examples of Biodegradable Materials: Paper Food waste Human waste Manure Sewage sludge Slaughterhouse waste Dead animals and plants Hospital Waste, etc. Biodegradable Waste The type of waste that can be broken down by other living things mainly comes from plant or animal sources and is called Biodegradable Waste. Biodegradable Waste Green garbage, food waste, paper waste, and biodegradable plastics are all common examples of biodegradable waste that can be found in municipal solid waste. Human waste, manure, sewage, and slaughterhouse waste are examples of additional biodegradable wastes. What is Non-Biodegradable? A non-biodegradable material is any type of substance that is a cause of pollution and cannot be degraded by living things. Non-biodegradable wastes cannot be handled as easily as biodegradable trash. Wastes that are not biodegradable cannot be broken down or eliminated by natural processes. They endure on earth for a very long time without degrading. As a result, the threat they pose is likewise more serious. Plastics, which are frequently used materials in practically every sector, are a remarkable example. Improved quality plastics are being used to offer these polymers a long-lasting effect. They became more durable even after use and more temperature resistant as a result. Cans, metals, and chemicals used in agriculture and industry are more examples. Non-Biodegradable Waste Examples of Non-Biodegradable Materials Glass Plastic Metals Hazardous substances Pesticides Fibers E-waste Artificial rubber Artificial polymers, etc. Non-Biodegradable Waste A substance that cannot break down or dissolve naturally and causes pollution is referred to as non-biodegradable waste. Degradation is not possible with these products because they are manufactured and do not occur naturally. Therefore, they damage our environment when they exist in the ecosystem for a long time without decomposing. Examples of non-biodegradable garbage include polystyrene, metal, aluminium cans, tires, paint, poisonous chemicals, and plastics. Difference Between Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Biodegradable Non-Biodegradable Biodegradable materials can be decomposed naturally by microorganisms and other living organisms. Non-Biodegradable materials can not be decomposed naturally by any living organisms. The decomposition of such materials takes place in presence of air, sunlight, water, soil, microorganisms, and all. However, Non-Biodegradable wastes can not decay in the ecosystem naturally and create pollution. Biodegradable wastes come from organic things like kitchen waste, paper, organic waste, etc. While non-biodegradable wastes are manufactured chemically, therefore found to become from human activities Faster Rate of Decomposition. Slower Rate of Decomposition. Such waste is useful for the production of fertilizers, manure, compost, biogas, etc. This waste is needed to be separated first and get recycled, which is expensive and time-consuming. e.g. Kitchen waste, Human waste, Manure, Sewage sludge, Dead animals and plants, etc. e.g. Glass, Plastic, Metals, Hazardous substances, Pesticides, Fibers, etc. FAQs on Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Question 1: What does the term Biodegradable mean? Answer: A biodegradable substance or material is one that may quickly break down by bacteria or any other natural organisms without contributing to pollution. Question 2: What are the Effects of Waste Material on the Environment? Answer: Poor waste management directly impacts numerous ecosystems and species as well as air pollution and climate change. Methane, a significant greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, is produced by landfills, which are the final step in the waste management hierarchy. Question 3: What are the differences between Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Waste? Answer: Following are the differences between Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Waste: Biodegradable Waste Non-Biodegradable Waste The decomposition of such materials takes place in presence of air, sunlight, water, soil, microorganisms, and all. However, Non-Biodegradable wastes can not decay in the ecosystem naturally and create pollution. Biodegradable wastes come from organic things like kitchen waste, paper, organic waste, etc. While, non-biodegradable wastes are manufactured chemically, therefore found to become from human activities Faster Rate of Decomposition. Slower Rate of Decomposition. Such waste is useful for the production of fertilizers, manure, compost, biogas, etc. This waste is needed to be separated first and get recycled, which is expensive and time-consuming. e.g. Kitchen waste, Human waste, Manure, Sewage sludge, Dead animals and plants, etc. e.g. Glass, Plastic, Metals, Hazardous substances, Pesticides, Fibers, etc. Question 4: Do biodegradable substances affect the environment and how? Answer: Biodegradable materials are decomposed down by the microorganisms, for instance, bacteria and fungi. They degrade down into simpler soluble substances and are therefore, used as a source of nutrients by these organisms. Some of these materials mix well into the soil thereby increasing its fertility. Question 5: Why should we segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes? Answer: Biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes should be discarded in different bins to ensure: Separate collection and dealing Effective treatment and disposal. Prevent the formation of toxic compounds on their mixing Prevent emission and pollution in the environment. The biodegradable waste, for example, can be decomposed naturally, that is, by the process of composting. Non-biodegradable wastes, however, can be sent for recycling. Question 6: How to minimize plastic-related Environmental problems? Answer: Plastic is now an integral part of our life. Plastic industry is growing with a lot many Environmental problems. We have various options and technologies, but each one has its own merits and demerits. Is it possible to ban plastic? The answer may be a big No. We may ban a particular type of plastic? If yes, what type of plastic could be banned? Reduce it use? But the problem will be there again. Recycling is one good option but not cost-effective. Question 7: How are Things Biodegraded? Answer: The process of biodegradation is initiated mainly by the microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. Microorganisms depend on their enzymes to start the breakdown of substances. This process is carried in the presence of suitable optimum conditions like temperature, moisture, pH of the medium, oxygen level. Biological catalysts such as enzymes can be used to increase the rate of the reaction. (Geeksforgeeks)

involution

noun: involution; plural noun: involutions 1. PHYSIOLOGY the shrinkage of an organ in old age or when inactive, e.g. of the uterus after childbirth. 2. MATHEMATICS a function, transformation, or operator that is equal to its inverse, i.e. which gives the identity when applied to itself. 3. FORMAL the process of involving or complicating, or the state of being involved or complicated. "periods of artistic involution"

efflux

the flowing out of a particular substance or particle

weave

create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton (Quizlet) weave /ˈwiːv/ verb weaves; wove /ˈwoʊv/ or weaved; woven /ˈwoʊvən/ or weaved; weaving 1 ◊ Wove is the usual past tense and woven the usual past participle for senses 1, 2, and 4. Weaved is the usual past tense and past participle for sense 3. : to make something (such as cloth) by crossing threads or other long pieces of material over and under each other [+ object] [+] Example sentences [no object] [+] Example sentences 2 [+ object] : to create something (such as a story) by combining different things in usually a complicated way [+] Example sentences — often + together [+] Example sentences 3 : to move from side to side while going forward especially in order to avoid the people or things that are in front of you [no object] [+] Example sentences [+ object] [+] Example sentences 4 [+ object] of a spider : to create (a web) : spin [+] Example sentences — weaver /ˈwiːvɚ/ noun, plural weavers [count] [+] Example sentences 2 weave /ˈwiːv/ noun plural weaves [count] : a pattern in a woven cloth : a particular way of weaving cloth (Encyclopedia Britannica)

The patter of tiny feet

the patter of tiny feet phrase of patter HUMOROUS used in reference to the presence or imminent birth of a child. "I had given up hope of hearing the patter of tiny feet" (Online def)

parlor trick

a usually simple trick or demonstration that is used especially to entertain or amuse guests

transparent

(adj.) allowing light to pass through; easily recognized or understood; easily seen through or detected (Wuizlet) (of a material or article) allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen. "transparent blue water" Similar: see-through clear translucent pellucid crystal clear crystalline limpid glassy glasslike liquid unclouded uncloudy transpicuous filmy gauzy fine sheer light lightweight thin flimsy diaphanous chiffony gossamer delicate Opposite: opaque cloudy thick coarse easy to perceive or detect. "the residents will see through any transparent attempt to buy their votes" Similar: obvious explicit unambiguous unequivocal clear lucid straightforward plain apparent unmistakable manifest conspicuous patent indisputable self-evident transpicuous blatant flagrant undisguised unconcealed barefaced glaring shameless brazen bold visible noticeable recognizable distinct evident perceptible discernible palpable arrant Opposite: obscure ambiguous having thoughts, feelings, or motives that are easily perceived. "you'd be no good at poker—you're too transparent" (Online defs)

What should I eat?

-balance calories to maintain weight -increase foods that promote health -limit nutrients that increase health risks Base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, meats, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar Meats ( lean ) and garden vegetables ( especially greens ), nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar (Quizlet) Using Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate as a guide, we recommend eating mostly vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, healthy fats, and healthy proteins. We suggest drinking water instead of sugary beverages, and we also address common dietary concerns such as salt and sodium, vitamins, and alcohol. It's also important to stay active and maintain a healthy weight. The main message: Focus on diet quality The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate in the diet, because some sources of carbohydrate—like vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and beans—are healthier than others. The Healthy Eating Plate also advises consumers to avoid sugary beverages, a major source of calories—usually with little nutritional value—in the American diet. The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat. In this way, the Healthy Eating Plate recommends the opposite of the low-fat message promoted for decades by the USDA. The Healthy Eating Plate summarizes the best evidence-based dietary information available today. As nutrition researchers are continually discovering valuable information, The Healthy Eating Plate will be updated to reflect new findings... Plate power - 10 tips for healthy eating Carbohydrates1. Choose good carbs, not no carbs. Whole grains are your best bet. protein-icon2. Pay attention to the protein package. Fish, poultry, nuts, and beans are the best choices. fats-icon3. Choose foods with healthy fats, limit foods high in saturated fat, and avoid foods with trans fat. Plant oils, nuts, and fish are the healthiest sources. fiber-icon4. Choose a fiber-filled diet, rich in whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. vegetables-icon5. Eat more vegetables and fruits. Go for color and variety—dark green, yellow, orange, and red. milk-icon6. Calcium is important. But milk isn't the only, or even best, source. healthier-drinks-icon7. Water is best to quench your thirst. Skip the sugary drinks, and go easy on the milk and juice. salt-icon8. Eating less salt is good for everyone's health. Choose more fresh foods and fewer processed foods. alcohol-icon9. Moderate drinking can be healthy—but not for everyone. You must weigh the benefits and risks. vitamins-small-home10. A daily multivitamin is a great nutrition insurance policy. Some extra vitamin D may add an extra health (Harvard School of Public Health)

finders keepers

A slang term meaning "whoever finds something gets to keep it as their own" A person who finds personal property has a right to claim it against anyone except the true owner (Quizlet) A phrase meaning that whoever finds something is entitled to keep it. For example, Someone left a dollar bill in this rented car—finders, keepers. This expression alludes to an ancient Roman law to that effect and has been stated in numerous different ways over the centuries. (Dictionary.com)

quasar

An enormously bright, distant galaxy with a giant black hole at its center (Quizlet)

jump to conclusions

to guess the facts about a situation without having enough information (Quizlet) make a hasty judgment before learning or considering all the facts. "they are imagining things, jumping to conclusions" (Online def)

cheesy

too emotional or romantic in a way that is embarrassing (Quizlet) Informal cheap, unpleasant, or blatantly inauthentic. (Online def)

laminate

verb: laminate; 3rd person present: laminates; past tense: laminated; past participle: laminated; gerund or present participle: laminating /ˈlaməˌnāt/ overlay (a flat surface, especially paper) with a layer of plastic or some other protective material. "we will laminate your photos in clear plastic" (Online def)

gusto

vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment

genteel

well-mannered; refined; polite

market price

The point where supply and demand are equal (Wuizlet) the price of a commodity when sold in a given market. "the world market price for nonfat dry milk" (Online def)

aerosol

a substance enclosed under pressure and able to be released as a fine spray, typically by means of a propellant gas. (Online def)

virulent

adjective: virulent 1. (of a disease or poison) extremely severe or harmful in its effects. "a virulent strain of influenza" (of a pathogen, especially a virus) highly infective. "Staphylococcus aureus is a common organism whose virulent strains are causing problems" bitterly hostile. "his involvement with the temperance movement led to his virulent attack on the drink trade" (Online defs)

elemental

having to do with great forces of nature (Quizlet) primary or basic. "elemental features from which all other structures are compounded" Similar: basic primary principal fundamental essential elementary radical root underlying rudimentary primitive primordial concerned with chemical elements or other basic components. "elemental analysis" consisting of a single chemical element. "elemental sulfur" 2. related to or embodying the powers of nature. "a thunderstorm is the inevitable outcome of battling elemental forces" Similar: natural atmospheric meteorological environmental (of an emotion) having the primitive and inescapable character of a force of nature. "the urge for revenge was too elemental to be ignored" Similar: basic primary principal fundamental essential elementary radical root underlying rudimentary primitive primordial noun noun: elemental; plural noun: elementals a supernatural entity or force thought to be physically manifested by occult means. "gods and elementals looked out upon the worshipers" (Online defs)

interweave

to weave together

What are some computer science fundamentals?

Making Decisions Modern computers can accomplish incredible things - they can play chess, drive cars and diagnose diseases. But, whatever the application, it all breaks down to small questions. What is computing? Computing is the act of taking an input, processing it, and producing an output. In facial recognition, a computer may get a camera image as input, perform a sequence of steps, and produce an identifying description as output. Our first example breaks down the process of facial recognition into a sequence of simple decision steps. A decision tree is a sequence of yes/no questions that help the computer decide what to output. Just like reading a flowchart, the computer starts at the top of the decision tree and answers each question based on its input until it gets to the bottom: the output. (Brilliant)

Dementia

a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive defects that include memory impairment. a slowly progressive decline in mental abilities, including memory, thinking, and judgment, that is often accompanied by personality changes (Quizlet) Dementia Main Results Images Woman unable to remember her address. Source Description A group of thinking and social symptoms that interferes with daily functioning. Not a specific disease, dementia is a group of conditions characterized by impairment of at least two brain functions, such as memory loss and judgment. Very common More than 3 million US cases per year Treatment can help, but this condition can't be cured Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong Requires a medical diagnosis Lab tests or imaging often required For informational purposes only. Consult your local medical authority for advice. Sources: Mayo Clinic and others. Learn more (Online def)

referral

a recommendation; a letter or notice that carries good words about a person a recommendation to a salesperson from a customer or business associate

flux

a state of continual change or movement; flow

felicity

great happiness; bliss [quizlet] intense happiness. "domestic felicity" Similar: happiness joy joyfulness joyousness rapture bliss euphoria delight cheer cheerfulness gaiety contentedness satisfaction pleasure fulfillment transports Opposite: unhappiness 2. the ability to find appropriate expression for one's thoughts. "speech that pleased by its accuracy, felicity, and fluency" Similar: eloquence aptness appropriateness appropriacy suitability suitableness applicability fitness relevance pertinence correctness rightness Opposite: inappropriateness a particularly effective feature of a work of literature or art. plural noun: felicities "the King James version, thanks to its felicities of language, ruled supreme" [online def]

Providence

the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power [capital of] Rhode Island

efflux

the flowing out of a particular substance or particle Efflux pump actively transports antibiotic out of cell before it can cause harm (Form of resistance to antibiotics)

polity

the form of government of a country or other organization an organized society, such as a nation, state, church, or other organization, having a specific form of government

what is CSAwesome?

CSAwesome is a free AP CS A curriculum that was created in 2019 by adapting the AP CS A Java Review e-book written by Dr. Barbara Ericson, while she was a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech, currently Assistant Professor of Information at University of Michigan. CSAwesome is an official College Board CS A curriculum and PD provider as of 2020. Dr. Beryl Hoffman, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Elms College, MA, created and adapted the CSAwesome curriculum to follow the College Board CS A 2019 guidelines with the support of a 2019 Google CS-ER grant and the Mobile CSP project (https://www.mobile-csp.org). Special thanks to Barb Ericson, Beth Simon, Colleen Lewis (for her awesome Java memory model videos), John Figliulo, Pauline Lake, Jennifer Rosato, Kim Evelti, Becky Stacey, Art Lopez, Kyle Gillette, and Peter Bowers for feedback, edits, and ideas. In the summer 2020, we are very grateful to CSA teacher extraordinaire Kate McDonnell who created a JUnit test code suite for our Java server, and many volunteers including Pat Clark, Emma Brown, Emma Pinnell, Megha Sharma, Arjun Balaji, and Anvita Gollu who helped to add many junit tests to each active code to make them auto-gradable. Our hopes are that CSP teachers and students can use this interactive book to help transition from AP CSP to AP CS A. (runestone.academy)

What should I know about Marcus Aurelius?

Marcus Aurelius First published Mon Nov 29, 2010; substantive revision Fri Dec 22, 2017 The second century CE Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was also a Stoic philosopher, and his Meditations, which he wrote to and for himself, offers readers a unique opportunity to see how an ancient person (indeed an emperor) might try to live a Stoic life, according to which only virtue is good, only vice is bad, and the things which we normally busy ourselves with are all indifferent to our happiness (for our lives are not made good or bad by our having or lacking them). The difficulties Marcus faces putting Stoicism into practice are philosophical as well as practical, and understanding his efforts increases our philosophical appreciation of Stoicism. (Stanford University) Marcus Aurelius was Roman Emperor from 161-180 C.E. and the author of Meditations. The book is a collection of Marcus's personal reflections and Stoic philosophical exercises written during the last decade of his life, many of them during military campaigns on the Empire's frontiers. Though Marcus writes almost nothing about himself, the Meditations reveal him to have cared about self-discipline, modesty, treating others justly, and, like a good Stoic philosopher, living in accordance with nature and preparing his soul for death. He shows much gratitude toward the gods, toward his parents, and especially toward his adoptive father and predecessor as Emperor, Antoninus Pius, for arranging his life so that he could be successful as an Emperor and, even more, as a person dedicated to philosophy. (LitCharts)

What are some terms and symbols from the meditations by Marcus Aurelius?

Philosophy In Meditations, philosophy doesn't refer to an abstract course of academic study, but to a person's way of life. This was the more common understanding of philosophy in the ancient world, and it was especially true of the popularized Stoicism that Marcus Aurelius followed. Marcus often refers to philosophy as a set of practical guidelines by which a person directs their daily life, especially in light of life's brevity, instability, and inevitable mystery. A set of mental tools kept near at hand, philosophy helps a person keep their mind steady and unshaken despite pain, upheaval, mistreatment by others, and inevitable death. Meditations itself is a collection of Marcus's philosophical exercises, jotted down amidst the rigors of daily life as emperor. Logos A Greek term, logos has many meanings, referring to everything from words, discussion, and philosophical discourse to the metaphysical source of all things in the universe. The latter sense is found most often in Meditations. Marcus Aurelius uses logos to refer both to the divine that infuses and directs all things in nature and to the "fragment" of God, the rational mind, that is found in every person. It's one's logos that gets trained by philosophy and serves as the basis of common ground between human beings. It's also the animating part of a person that, separated from their substance, gets absorbed into the universal logos upon their death. Voyage and River Symbol Icon Marcus Aurelius occasionally refers to human life as a voyage or waterborne journey to symbolize the brevity and instability of human life. Fittingly, Marcus is writing in the last years of his life, and he emphasizes that a person should know the right time to "disembark" from their journey—that is, to die. He argues that once we internalize this truth that life itself is short lived, we won't get too attached to fleeting things or events. This idea aligns with the Stoic view that a person should always be calmly prepared for death. Indeed, Marcus describes life as a constantly flowing river to indicate that life is unstable, and therefore that it's pointless to get hung up on either good or bad circumstances—neither one lasts for long. He also uses the same image to emphasize that the things we sail past on the "river" of life don't offer firm ground to land on—almost as soon as they appear, they're gone again. Again, this is Marcus's way of emphasizing that life is constantly in flux and is incredibly fleeting. (LitCharts)

What are a list of actors to know?

google.com Tom Hanks image of Will Smith google.com Will Smith image of Leonardo DiCaprio google.com Leonardo DiCaprio image of Tom Cruise google.com Tom Cruise image of Johnny Depp google.com Johnny Depp image of Denzel Washington google.com Denzel Washington image of Samuel L. Jackson google.com Samuel L. Jackson image of Robert De Niro google.com Robert De Niro image of Morgan Freeman google.com Morgan Freeman image of Anthony Hopkins google.com Anthony Hopkins image of Jack Nicholson google.com Jack Nicholson image of Al Pacino google.com Al Pacino image of Harrison Ford google.com Harrison Ford image of Sandra Bullock google.com Sandra Bullock image of Marlon Brando t3.gstatic.com Marlon Brando 1924-2004 image of Dustin Hoffman google.com Dustin Hoffman image of Natalie Portman google.com Natalie Portman image of Paul Newman google.com Paul Newman 1925-2008 image of Heath Ledger google.com Heath Ledger 1979-2008 image of James Stewart google.com James Stewart 1908-1997 image of Julia Roberts google.com Julia Roberts image of Joaquin Phoenix google.com Joaquin Phoenix image of Antonio Banderas google.com Antonio Banderas image of John Wayne google.com John Wayne 1907-1979 image of Daniel Day-Lewis google.com Daniel Day-Lewis image of Angelina Jolie google.com Angelina Jolie image of Henry Fonda google.com Henry Fonda 1905-1982 image of Charlie Chaplin google.com Charlie Chaplin 1889-1977 image of Marilyn Monroe google.com Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962 image of James Dean google.com James Dean 1931-1955 image of Sidney Poitier google.com Sidney Poitier 1927-2022 image of Cary Grant google.com Cary Grant 1904-1986 image of Clark Gable google.com Clark Gable 1901-1960 image of Meryl Streep google.com Meryl Streep image of Kirk Douglas google.com Kirk Douglas 1916-2020 image of Halle Berry google.com Halle Berry image of Jodie Foster google.com Jodie Foster image of Humphrey Bogart google.com Humphrey Bogart 1899-1957 image of Salma Hayek google.com Salma Hayek image of Forest Whitaker google.com Forest Whitaker image of Laurence Olivier google.com Laurence Olivier 1907-1989 image of Gregory Peck google.com Gregory Peck 1916-2003 image of Don Cheadle google.com Don Cheadle image of Steve McQueen t2.gstatic.com Steve McQueen 1930-1980 image of Peter O'Toole google.com Peter O'Toole 1932-2013 image of Charlton Heston en.wikiquote.org Charlton Heston 1923-2008 image of Gary Cooper google.com Gary Cooper 1901-1961 image of Penélope Cruz google.com Penélope Cruz image of Spencer Tracy google.com Spencer Tracy 1900-1967 image of Shah Rukh Khan google.com Shah Rukh Khan image of Julianne Moore google.com Julianne Moore