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id_3600 | It is not news that people are concerned with the pollution of air and water, desertification and resource exhaustion. People realized that the growth of population, the acceleration of economic activities and the wide spread pollution, human beings are making stronger Impacts on the environment. New evidence of global climate change, changes in the ozone and the decrease of biodiversity has increased people's anxiety. Besides, highly exposed environmental disasters have urged the public to believe that the effect of company activities on the environment might violate the operation permits of business stakeholders. | Companies not improving their negative impacts on the environment may face consequences and be held accountable. | n |
id_3601 | It is not news that people are concerned with the pollution of air and water, desertification and resource exhaustion. People realized that the growth of population, the acceleration of economic activities and the wide spread pollution, human beings are making stronger impacts on the environment. New evidence of global climate change, changes in the ozone and the decrease of biodiversity has increased people's anxiety. Besides, highly exposed environmental disasters have urged the public to believe that the effect of company activities on the environment might violate the operation permits of business stakeholders. | Limiting pollution to its origin will not change the effect on the environment from human activities. | c |
id_3602 | It is not news that people are concerned with the pollution of air and water, desertification and resource exhaustion. People realized that the growth of population, the acceleration of economic activities and the wide spread pollution, human beings are making stronger impacts on the environment. New evidence of global climate change, changes in the ozone and the decrease of biodiversity has increased people's anxiety. Besides, highly exposed environmental disasters have urged the public to believe that the effect of company activities on the environment might violate the operation permits of business stakeholders. | New scientific evidence has only proven known fact. | n |
id_3603 | It is possible that when our forbears looked skywards and saw the heavenly bodies they believed them to be the size they appear. In any event, the ancient mind did not seem to share our need to represent in two dimensions the illusion of depth. Any graphic method applied to a flat surface that successfully conveys the impressions of spatial extension is said to provide perspective. For example, if parallel lines are shown to converge and objects at a distance are depicted as smaller, then the impression of depth is achieved. These are ways an artist can create the illusion of perspective. A pair of railway lines represented as converging to a point on the horizon is perhaps the most striking example. | Two methods are described through which an impression of depth on a flat surface can be created. | e |
id_3604 | It is possible that when our forbears looked skywards and saw the heavenly bodies they believed them to be the size they appear. In any event, the ancient mind did not seem to share our need to represent in two dimensions the illusion of depth. Any graphic method applied to a flat surface that successfully conveys the impressions of spatial extension is said to provide perspective. For example, if parallel lines are shown to converge and objects at a distance are depicted as smaller, then the impression of depth is achieved. These are ways an artist can create the illusion of perspective. A pair of railway lines represented as converging to a point on the horizon is perhaps the most striking example. | It can be inferred from the passage that the painting of ancient Egypt lacks the illusion of perspective. | c |
id_3605 | It is possible that when our forbears looked skywards and saw the heavenly bodies they believed them to be the size they appear. In any event, the ancient mind did not seem to share our need to represent in two dimensions the illusion of depth. Any graphic method applied to a flat surface that successfully conveys the impressions of spatial extension is said to provide perspective. For example, if parallel lines are shown to converge and objects at a distance are depicted as smaller, then the impression of depth is achieved. These are ways an artist can create the illusion of perspective. A pair of railway lines represented as converging to a point on the horizon is perhaps the most striking example. | The author would agree that a forbear who painted the moon as it appears may not have needed to create the impression of spatial extension for his picture to be representational. | e |
id_3606 | It is stated that individuals need to ensure they engage in exercise, assuming that it is the responsibility of the individual to get at least 30 minutes of exercise, at least 5 days per week. | Honesty is an important part of a successful job application. | e |
id_3607 | It is stated that individuals need to ensure they engage in exercise, assuming that it is the responsibility of the individual to get at least 30 minutes of exercise, at least 5 days per week. | A well written application form guarantees a successful job application. | n |
id_3608 | It is stated that individuals need to ensure they engage in exercise, assuming that it is the responsibility of the individual to get at least 30 minutes of exercise, at least 5 days per week. | Applicants with unclear application forms will not get hired. | n |
id_3609 | It is widely accepted that an individual European countrys inflation is of no relevance and that only the average inflation in the euro zone as a whole matters, since it is part of a common market. Thus, countries within that market are often grouped as a single entity for analytical purposes. According to this view, the fact that inflation in the highly-indebted countries is below the euro-zone average is a good thing and is part of a relative price adjustment. The troubled debtor countries prices decline relative to the northern euro-zone countries. This boosts their competitiveness and is part of a healthy rebalancing mechanism. Although theoretically correct, the practical implication of this competitiveness effect is limited. With the exception of Greece, there is very little difference in national inflation rates in the euro zone. Germanys inflation is 1.3% (the highest rate) while inflation in the highly-indebted countries, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, is 0.2 to 0.3% and in Italy 0.7%. | Analysing the euro zone common market in a holistic manner is a commonly accepted approach. | n |
id_3610 | It is widely accepted that an individual European countrys inflation is of no relevance and that only the average inflation in the euro zone as a whole matters, since it is part of a common market. Thus, countries within that market are often grouped as a single entity for analytical purposes. According to this view, the fact that inflation in the highly-indebted countries is below the euro-zone average is a good thing and is part of a relative price adjustment. The troubled debtor countries prices decline relative to the northern euro-zone countries. This boosts their competitiveness and is part of a healthy rebalancing mechanism. Although theoretically correct, the practical implication of this competitiveness effect is limited. With the exception of Greece, there is very little difference in national inflation rates in the euro zone. Germanys inflation is 1.3% (the highest rate) while inflation in the highly-indebted countries, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, is 0.2 to 0.3% and in Italy 0.7%. | The competitiveness between euro zone countries is limited, a fact that is evident in the lack of difference in inflation rates. | c |
id_3611 | It is widely accepted that an individual European countrys inflation is of no relevance and that only the average inflation in the euro zone as a whole matters, since it is part of a common market. Thus, countries within that market are often grouped as a single entity for analytical purposes. According to this view, the fact that inflation in the highly-indebted countries is below the euro-zone average is a good thing and is part of a relative price adjustment. The troubled debtor countries prices decline relative to the northern euro-zone countries. This boosts their competitiveness and is part of a healthy rebalancing mechanism. Although theoretically correct, the practical implication of this competitiveness effect is limited. With the exception of Greece, there is very little difference in national inflation rates in the euro zone. Germanys inflation is 1.3% (the highest rate) while inflation in the highly-indebted countries, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, is 0.2 to 0.3% and in Italy 0.7%. | A euro zone country can have major financial issues without necessarily damaging the economy of other member states. | n |
id_3612 | It was identified that in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 50% of gold medallists from the UK were educated at private schools. Considering that only 7% of the UK population is educated at private schools, this means a disproportionate number of privately educated students are representing the UK in the Olympics. Over 30% of UK Olympians were educated privately, as was 40% of all 40% of UK medallists. This trend is particularly marked in sports such as equestrian in which every medallist was privately educated. The reason for this difference is the emphasis in which private school place on sport by devoting more time to sporting activities and often hiring top class coaches. To address this imbalance steps are being taken to encourage students from state education to engage in sport. A program was launched to identify and develop teenagers from comprehensive schools in the sport of rowing. | 93 percent of the UK population do not attend private school. | e |
id_3613 | It was identified that in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 50% of gold medallists from the UK were educated at private schools. Considering that only 7% of the UK population is educated at private schools, this means a disproportionate number of privately educated students are representing the UK in the Olympics. Over 30% of UK Olympians were educated privately, as was 40% of all 40% of UK medallists. This trend is particularly marked in sports such as equestrian in which every medallist was privately educated. The reason for this difference is the emphasis in which private school place on sport by devoting more time to sporting activities and often hiring top class coaches. To address this imbalance steps are being taken to encourage students from state education to engage in sport. A program was launched to identify and develop teenagers from comprehensive schools in the sport of rowing. | Every equestrian medallist was privately educated | e |
id_3614 | It was identified that in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 50% of gold medallists from the UK were educated at private schools. Considering that only 7% of the UK population is educated at private schools, this means a disproportionate number of privately educated students are representing the UK in the Olympics. Over 30% of UK Olympians were educated privately, as was 40% of all 40% of UK medallists. This trend is particularly marked in sports such as equestrian in which every medallist was privately educated. The reason for this difference is the emphasis in which private school place on sport by devoting more time to sporting activities and often hiring top class coaches. To address this imbalance steps are being taken to encourage students from state education to engage in sport. A program was launched to identify and develop teenagers from comprehensive schools in the sport of rowing. | The majority of UK medallists were privately educated. | c |
id_3615 | It was identified that in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 50% of gold medallists from the UK were educated at private schools. Considering that only 7% of the UK population is educated at private schools, this means a disproportionate number of privately educated students are representing the UK in the Olympics. Over 30% of UK Olympians were educated privately, as was 40% of all 40% of UK medallists. This trend is particularly marked in sports such as equestrian in which every medallist was privately educated. The reason for this difference is the emphasis in which private school place on sport by devoting more time to sporting activities and often hiring top class coaches. To address this imbalance steps are being taken to encourage students from state education to engage in sport. A program was launched to identify and develop teenagers from comprehensive schools in the sport of rowing. | Private schools devote more time to sports. | e |
id_3616 | Its Dynamite In 1866, an American railroad company was constructing a tunnel through the Sierra Nevada mountains. They encountered particularly hard rock, and ordered three crates of the only blasting explosive that could do the job: nitroglycerine. The first of these crates arrived in a postal centre in San Francisco, and upon being accidentally dropped, promptly exploded, killing all 15 people present. The point was taken. Nitro was dangerously shock sensitive. Its transportation was soon banned, and from then on, it had to be manufactured by on-site laboratories an expensive and still quite dangerous task, as the number of deadly explosions would demonstrate. The history of nitroglycerine is full of such sad events. It was first synthesised in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, an Italian chemist, and he was so frightened by his discovery that he did not immediately publish his findings. He was also the first to caution the world against its use, in both private letters and a journal article, arguing that it was impossible to handle the substance safely. However, it was soon discovered that when frozen (at about five degress), nitro was much less sensitive to shock. The problem was then in thawing it back into liquid form, at which point it became even more unstable. Again, a mounting death toll would testify to this fact. Yet nitroglycerine always remained in demand, being the first practical mining explosive produced. Prior to this, gunpowder was used, but this was limited and clumsy. Gupowder is a low explosive, meaning that it burns from layer to layer, producing gases which expand at less than the speed of sound. Nitro is a high explosive, meaning that it detonates that is, is triggered to react by the virtually instrantancous shock wave, producing gases which expand at more than the speed of sound. Gunpowder could not efficiently shatter rock (although it was suitable for bullets and artillery shells). Only nitro could really do the job, and a Swedish chemist, Alfred Nobel, became interested. Nobels companies were moving from primarily iron and steel production to the almost exclusive manufacture of cannons, armaments, and gunpowder, and he saw the commercial value in making nitroglycerine manageable. He began experimenting at considerable cost. In 1864, his younger brother and several workers were killed in a factory explosion. Undererred, Nobel built a new factory in the remote hills of Germany, determined to find the answer. He first tried combining nitro with conventional gunpowder, marketing the final product as blasting oil, yet accidental explosions continued. His factory was destroyed yet again, on two occasions! The breakthrough finally came when Nobels company mixed liquid nitroglycerine with an inert absorbent silicate sand, known as diatomaccous earth. This was produced by grinding down diatomite, a rock found around the local hills. It is similar to volcanic pumice, being very light and highly porous, yet it is actually the fossilised remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled alga. This combination immediately made nitro less dangerous to handle, and by being solid, more convenient to package and transport. Nobel patented his invention in 1867 under the name of dynamite, based on dyna the Greek word for power. In its best-known form, dynamite was made in short paper-wrapped sticks consisting of three quarters intro to one quarter diatomaccous earth, but it would always remain dangerous to manufacture, store, and use. Over time, the nitro can seep out, crystallising on the outside of the sticks or pooling at the bottom of storage boxes, with all the consequent instability that raw nitro possesses. Nevertheless, in an age of extensive railroad and tunnel construction, the product would earn Nobel a great fortune. Yet, while high explosives serve a commendable purpose in peacetime engineering projects, Nobels fortune was also based on weapons of death and destruction, and the public knew it. Nobel himself was to become greatly perturbed, especially given the events which occurred when his brother Ludvig died. The French newspapers mistakenly thought it was the death of Alfred himself, and published an obituary. Alfred happened to be in France at the time, and one can only wonder at his reaction upon reading about his own death! Yet the obituary was harsh and condemning, calling Nobel the merchant of death, someone who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before. It was certainly this event which influenced him, in 1895, to write a new last will and testament, one year before he died. It would astonish everyone, and change the course of history. When Alfred Nobel died, single and childless, at age 63, he specified that, apart from some minor bequests, his vast fortune (about 200 million dollars in todays money) be set aside for the establishment of the Nobel Prizes. These would be awarded annually for those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature. Nobels strategy worked, as the Nobel Prizes are now considered among the most prestigious in the world. Few consider that all that money comes from nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder, and armament manufacture, the indirect cause of incalculable human carnage. | Dynamite is safer than nitroglycerin. | e |
id_3617 | Its Dynamite In 1866, an American railroad company was constructing a tunnel through the Sierra Nevada mountains. They encountered particularly hard rock, and ordered three crates of the only blasting explosive that could do the job: nitroglycerine. The first of these crates arrived in a postal centre in San Francisco, and upon being accidentally dropped, promptly exploded, killing all 15 people present. The point was taken. Nitro was dangerously shock sensitive. Its transportation was soon banned, and from then on, it had to be manufactured by on-site laboratories an expensive and still quite dangerous task, as the number of deadly explosions would demonstrate. The history of nitroglycerine is full of such sad events. It was first synthesised in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, an Italian chemist, and he was so frightened by his discovery that he did not immediately publish his findings. He was also the first to caution the world against its use, in both private letters and a journal article, arguing that it was impossible to handle the substance safely. However, it was soon discovered that when frozen (at about five degress), nitro was much less sensitive to shock. The problem was then in thawing it back into liquid form, at which point it became even more unstable. Again, a mounting death toll would testify to this fact. Yet nitroglycerine always remained in demand, being the first practical mining explosive produced. Prior to this, gunpowder was used, but this was limited and clumsy. Gupowder is a low explosive, meaning that it burns from layer to layer, producing gases which expand at less than the speed of sound. Nitro is a high explosive, meaning that it detonates that is, is triggered to react by the virtually instrantancous shock wave, producing gases which expand at more than the speed of sound. Gunpowder could not efficiently shatter rock (although it was suitable for bullets and artillery shells). Only nitro could really do the job, and a Swedish chemist, Alfred Nobel, became interested. Nobels companies were moving from primarily iron and steel production to the almost exclusive manufacture of cannons, armaments, and gunpowder, and he saw the commercial value in making nitroglycerine manageable. He began experimenting at considerable cost. In 1864, his younger brother and several workers were killed in a factory explosion. Undererred, Nobel built a new factory in the remote hills of Germany, determined to find the answer. He first tried combining nitro with conventional gunpowder, marketing the final product as blasting oil, yet accidental explosions continued. His factory was destroyed yet again, on two occasions! The breakthrough finally came when Nobels company mixed liquid nitroglycerine with an inert absorbent silicate sand, known as diatomaccous earth. This was produced by grinding down diatomite, a rock found around the local hills. It is similar to volcanic pumice, being very light and highly porous, yet it is actually the fossilised remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled alga. This combination immediately made nitro less dangerous to handle, and by being solid, more convenient to package and transport. Nobel patented his invention in 1867 under the name of dynamite, based on dyna the Greek word for power. In its best-known form, dynamite was made in short paper-wrapped sticks consisting of three quarters intro to one quarter diatomaccous earth, but it would always remain dangerous to manufacture, store, and use. Over time, the nitro can seep out, crystallising on the outside of the sticks or pooling at the bottom of storage boxes, with all the consequent instability that raw nitro possesses. Nevertheless, in an age of extensive railroad and tunnel construction, the product would earn Nobel a great fortune. Yet, while high explosives serve a commendable purpose in peacetime engineering projects, Nobels fortune was also based on weapons of death and destruction, and the public knew it. Nobel himself was to become greatly perturbed, especially given the events which occurred when his brother Ludvig died. The French newspapers mistakenly thought it was the death of Alfred himself, and published an obituary. Alfred happened to be in France at the time, and one can only wonder at his reaction upon reading about his own death! Yet the obituary was harsh and condemning, calling Nobel the merchant of death, someone who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before. It was certainly this event which influenced him, in 1895, to write a new last will and testament, one year before he died. It would astonish everyone, and change the course of history. When Alfred Nobel died, single and childless, at age 63, he specified that, apart from some minor bequests, his vast fortune (about 200 million dollars in todays money) be set aside for the establishment of the Nobel Prizes. These would be awarded annually for those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature. Nobels strategy worked, as the Nobel Prizes are now considered among the most prestigious in the world. Few consider that all that money comes from nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder, and armament manufacture, the indirect cause of incalculable human carnage. | Nobels will leave some money to his friends. | n |
id_3618 | Its Dynamite In 1866, an American railroad company was constructing a tunnel through the Sierra Nevada mountains. They encountered particularly hard rock, and ordered three crates of the only blasting explosive that could do the job: nitroglycerine. The first of these crates arrived in a postal centre in San Francisco, and upon being accidentally dropped, promptly exploded, killing all 15 people present. The point was taken. Nitro was dangerously shock sensitive. Its transportation was soon banned, and from then on, it had to be manufactured by on-site laboratories an expensive and still quite dangerous task, as the number of deadly explosions would demonstrate. The history of nitroglycerine is full of such sad events. It was first synthesised in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, an Italian chemist, and he was so frightened by his discovery that he did not immediately publish his findings. He was also the first to caution the world against its use, in both private letters and a journal article, arguing that it was impossible to handle the substance safely. However, it was soon discovered that when frozen (at about five degress), nitro was much less sensitive to shock. The problem was then in thawing it back into liquid form, at which point it became even more unstable. Again, a mounting death toll would testify to this fact. Yet nitroglycerine always remained in demand, being the first practical mining explosive produced. Prior to this, gunpowder was used, but this was limited and clumsy. Gupowder is a low explosive, meaning that it burns from layer to layer, producing gases which expand at less than the speed of sound. Nitro is a high explosive, meaning that it detonates that is, is triggered to react by the virtually instrantancous shock wave, producing gases which expand at more than the speed of sound. Gunpowder could not efficiently shatter rock (although it was suitable for bullets and artillery shells). Only nitro could really do the job, and a Swedish chemist, Alfred Nobel, became interested. Nobels companies were moving from primarily iron and steel production to the almost exclusive manufacture of cannons, armaments, and gunpowder, and he saw the commercial value in making nitroglycerine manageable. He began experimenting at considerable cost. In 1864, his younger brother and several workers were killed in a factory explosion. Undererred, Nobel built a new factory in the remote hills of Germany, determined to find the answer. He first tried combining nitro with conventional gunpowder, marketing the final product as blasting oil, yet accidental explosions continued. His factory was destroyed yet again, on two occasions! The breakthrough finally came when Nobels company mixed liquid nitroglycerine with an inert absorbent silicate sand, known as diatomaccous earth. This was produced by grinding down diatomite, a rock found around the local hills. It is similar to volcanic pumice, being very light and highly porous, yet it is actually the fossilised remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled alga. This combination immediately made nitro less dangerous to handle, and by being solid, more convenient to package and transport. Nobel patented his invention in 1867 under the name of dynamite, based on dyna the Greek word for power. In its best-known form, dynamite was made in short paper-wrapped sticks consisting of three quarters intro to one quarter diatomaccous earth, but it would always remain dangerous to manufacture, store, and use. Over time, the nitro can seep out, crystallising on the outside of the sticks or pooling at the bottom of storage boxes, with all the consequent instability that raw nitro possesses. Nevertheless, in an age of extensive railroad and tunnel construction, the product would earn Nobel a great fortune. Yet, while high explosives serve a commendable purpose in peacetime engineering projects, Nobels fortune was also based on weapons of death and destruction, and the public knew it. Nobel himself was to become greatly perturbed, especially given the events which occurred when his brother Ludvig died. The French newspapers mistakenly thought it was the death of Alfred himself, and published an obituary. Alfred happened to be in France at the time, and one can only wonder at his reaction upon reading about his own death! Yet the obituary was harsh and condemning, calling Nobel the merchant of death, someone who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before. It was certainly this event which influenced him, in 1895, to write a new last will and testament, one year before he died. It would astonish everyone, and change the course of history. When Alfred Nobel died, single and childless, at age 63, he specified that, apart from some minor bequests, his vast fortune (about 200 million dollars in todays money) be set aside for the establishment of the Nobel Prizes. These would be awarded annually for those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature. Nobels strategy worked, as the Nobel Prizes are now considered among the most prestigious in the world. Few consider that all that money comes from nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder, and armament manufacture, the indirect cause of incalculable human carnage. | Many now condemn Nobel for his production of weapons. | c |
id_3619 | Its Dynamite In 1866, an American railroad company was constructing a tunnel through the Sierra Nevada mountains. They encountered particularly hard rock, and ordered three crates of the only blasting explosive that could do the job: nitroglycerine. The first of these crates arrived in a postal centre in San Francisco, and upon being accidentally dropped, promptly exploded, killing all 15 people present. The point was taken. Nitro was dangerously shock sensitive. Its transportation was soon banned, and from then on, it had to be manufactured by on-site laboratories an expensive and still quite dangerous task, as the number of deadly explosions would demonstrate. The history of nitroglycerine is full of such sad events. It was first synthesised in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, an Italian chemist, and he was so frightened by his discovery that he did not immediately publish his findings. He was also the first to caution the world against its use, in both private letters and a journal article, arguing that it was impossible to handle the substance safely. However, it was soon discovered that when frozen (at about five degress), nitro was much less sensitive to shock. The problem was then in thawing it back into liquid form, at which point it became even more unstable. Again, a mounting death toll would testify to this fact. Yet nitroglycerine always remained in demand, being the first practical mining explosive produced. Prior to this, gunpowder was used, but this was limited and clumsy. Gupowder is a low explosive, meaning that it burns from layer to layer, producing gases which expand at less than the speed of sound. Nitro is a high explosive, meaning that it detonates that is, is triggered to react by the virtually instrantancous shock wave, producing gases which expand at more than the speed of sound. Gunpowder could not efficiently shatter rock (although it was suitable for bullets and artillery shells). Only nitro could really do the job, and a Swedish chemist, Alfred Nobel, became interested. Nobels companies were moving from primarily iron and steel production to the almost exclusive manufacture of cannons, armaments, and gunpowder, and he saw the commercial value in making nitroglycerine manageable. He began experimenting at considerable cost. In 1864, his younger brother and several workers were killed in a factory explosion. Undererred, Nobel built a new factory in the remote hills of Germany, determined to find the answer. He first tried combining nitro with conventional gunpowder, marketing the final product as blasting oil, yet accidental explosions continued. His factory was destroyed yet again, on two occasions! The breakthrough finally came when Nobels company mixed liquid nitroglycerine with an inert absorbent silicate sand, known as diatomaccous earth. This was produced by grinding down diatomite, a rock found around the local hills. It is similar to volcanic pumice, being very light and highly porous, yet it is actually the fossilised remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled alga. This combination immediately made nitro less dangerous to handle, and by being solid, more convenient to package and transport. Nobel patented his invention in 1867 under the name of dynamite, based on dyna the Greek word for power. In its best-known form, dynamite was made in short paper-wrapped sticks consisting of three quarters intro to one quarter diatomaccous earth, but it would always remain dangerous to manufacture, store, and use. Over time, the nitro can seep out, crystallising on the outside of the sticks or pooling at the bottom of storage boxes, with all the consequent instability that raw nitro possesses. Nevertheless, in an age of extensive railroad and tunnel construction, the product would earn Nobel a great fortune. Yet, while high explosives serve a commendable purpose in peacetime engineering projects, Nobels fortune was also based on weapons of death and destruction, and the public knew it. Nobel himself was to become greatly perturbed, especially given the events which occurred when his brother Ludvig died. The French newspapers mistakenly thought it was the death of Alfred himself, and published an obituary. Alfred happened to be in France at the time, and one can only wonder at his reaction upon reading about his own death! Yet the obituary was harsh and condemning, calling Nobel the merchant of death, someone who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before. It was certainly this event which influenced him, in 1895, to write a new last will and testament, one year before he died. It would astonish everyone, and change the course of history. When Alfred Nobel died, single and childless, at age 63, he specified that, apart from some minor bequests, his vast fortune (about 200 million dollars in todays money) be set aside for the establishment of the Nobel Prizes. These would be awarded annually for those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature. Nobels strategy worked, as the Nobel Prizes are now considered among the most prestigious in the world. Few consider that all that money comes from nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder, and armament manufacture, the indirect cause of incalculable human carnage. | The French newspaper condemned Alfred Nobel because of his wealth. | c |
id_3620 | Its Only a Cockroach I turn on the light in my kitchen that night, and then I see it. I draw back, and my first instinct is to scream. I control myself with difficulty, but find myself shuddering, unable to deal with the creature before me. Its only a cockroach, but its large size, long antennae, shiny appearance, and spiny legs, all present a particularly disgusting appearance. And this is not just to me, but to everyone it seems, even to the point of phobic responses. This is certainly the over-riding reason I want these creatures totally eradicated from my apartment, but with their offensive odour, passive transportation of microbes, and trails of droppings, they also pose a distinct threat to domestic hygiene. Clearly, cohabitation is not possible. So, I do all I can to keep these pests away. Food is stored in sealed containers, garbage cans have tight lids, my kitchen is kept spotlessly clean, and my apartment swept and mopped nightly. I have also sealed up possible entry points, but still, these loathsome things find their way inside. I need a way to kill them. The most precise cockroach killer is, typically, another insect. A specific species of wasp targets these creatures. With a quick accurate swoop, it bites the cockroach at the main nerve centre of its body, which results in a temporary paralysis. This is very necessary, as we all know just how fast cockroaches can run. The wasp has only a few minutes to prepare its next sting, in the exact area of the brain which controls the cockroaches instinct to escape. After the paralysis departs, the cockroach is subdued and docile, and doomed. The wasp bites off the antennae to further discourage flight, then drags its victim away. Faced with such predation, cockroaches usually conceal themselves during the day, and with their ability to flatten their bodies, they can disappear into just about any tiny nook, crevice, and cranny. There, they wait patiently for darkness before emerging to search for food, and will usually run away when exposed to light. Given this, I am told that the slim and agile house centipede is probably the most effective cockroach predator, able to track down and root out the most carefully hidden prey. Unfortunately, I would say that centipedes are even more disgusting to have in ones house, if thats possible. I just cant win this game. Can anyone win? These insects are just about the hardiest, on the planet. Some can wait for up to three months before meals, some can survive on the barest hint of nutrition (such as the glue on the back of postage stamps), and some can live without air for over half an hour. They do not, however, handle cold weather well, preferring the warm conditions and security found within buildings. Hidden there, the female lays egg capsules containing around 40 eggs, and with the insects relatively long lifespan (about a year), some 300 to 400 offspring can ultimately be produced. The result: once these insects have infested a building, they are very difficult to eradicate. Cockroaches do, however, have some subtleties. They leave chemical messages in their droppings, as well as emit airborne pheromones to signal other cockroaches about sources of food and water, and alert them to their own presence. The latter is more important, for these insects are actually somewhat gregarious. Research has shown that cockroaches make group-based decisions, and tend to co-operate. One study placed a large number of cockroaches in a dish with three small shelters, and the insects divided themselves equally between two of them, leaving the third one empty. When these shelters were exchanged for two very large ones, all the cockroaches arranged themselves in just one. These creatures, it seems, prefer the company of others, and a rather fair al location of resources. Should I therefore feel any admiration? It is hard in fact, in Western culture, cockroaches are almost universally depicted as repulsive and dirty pests. In the insects most famous literary appearance Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect, probably a cockroach (although the story never quite makes that clear). Gregors transformation results in very predictable responses from his family and friends, who can never accept him again. He eventually dies, outcast and lonely, despised and mistreated a potent symbol of alienation and rejection. Yet in the Pixar animated feature Wall-E, a cockroach provides essential companionship to a lone robot living on a planet scorched by a nuclear holocaust. Whatever the case, I am faced with a big problem: a large ugly cockroach crawling slowly across my sink, antennae waving as it explores around. If I try to grab it, it will dart away, and I doubt whether Ill be able to catch it before it disappears into the numerous cracks and crevices of my old apartment. So, I carefully remove my slipper, determined to squash the insect, but then almost scream again as it lifts on its legs, raises membranous wings, and with a loud buzzing noise, flies away. Oh, just what I need they can fly, too. | Cockroaches are often the subject of research. | n |
id_3621 | Its Only a Cockroach I turn on the light in my kitchen that night, and then I see it. I draw back, and my first instinct is to scream. I control myself with difficulty, but find myself shuddering, unable to deal with the creature before me. Its only a cockroach, but its large size, long antennae, shiny appearance, and spiny legs, all present a particularly disgusting appearance. And this is not just to me, but to everyone it seems, even to the point of phobic responses. This is certainly the over-riding reason I want these creatures totally eradicated from my apartment, but with their offensive odour, passive transportation of microbes, and trails of droppings, they also pose a distinct threat to domestic hygiene. Clearly, cohabitation is not possible. So, I do all I can to keep these pests away. Food is stored in sealed containers, garbage cans have tight lids, my kitchen is kept spotlessly clean, and my apartment swept and mopped nightly. I have also sealed up possible entry points, but still, these loathsome things find their way inside. I need a way to kill them. The most precise cockroach killer is, typically, another insect. A specific species of wasp targets these creatures. With a quick accurate swoop, it bites the cockroach at the main nerve centre of its body, which results in a temporary paralysis. This is very necessary, as we all know just how fast cockroaches can run. The wasp has only a few minutes to prepare its next sting, in the exact area of the brain which controls the cockroaches instinct to escape. After the paralysis departs, the cockroach is subdued and docile, and doomed. The wasp bites off the antennae to further discourage flight, then drags its victim away. Faced with such predation, cockroaches usually conceal themselves during the day, and with their ability to flatten their bodies, they can disappear into just about any tiny nook, crevice, and cranny. There, they wait patiently for darkness before emerging to search for food, and will usually run away when exposed to light. Given this, I am told that the slim and agile house centipede is probably the most effective cockroach predator, able to track down and root out the most carefully hidden prey. Unfortunately, I would say that centipedes are even more disgusting to have in ones house, if thats possible. I just cant win this game. Can anyone win? These insects are just about the hardiest, on the planet. Some can wait for up to three months before meals, some can survive on the barest hint of nutrition (such as the glue on the back of postage stamps), and some can live without air for over half an hour. They do not, however, handle cold weather well, preferring the warm conditions and security found within buildings. Hidden there, the female lays egg capsules containing around 40 eggs, and with the insects relatively long lifespan (about a year), some 300 to 400 offspring can ultimately be produced. The result: once these insects have infested a building, they are very difficult to eradicate. Cockroaches do, however, have some subtleties. They leave chemical messages in their droppings, as well as emit airborne pheromones to signal other cockroaches about sources of food and water, and alert them to their own presence. The latter is more important, for these insects are actually somewhat gregarious. Research has shown that cockroaches make group-based decisions, and tend to co-operate. One study placed a large number of cockroaches in a dish with three small shelters, and the insects divided themselves equally between two of them, leaving the third one empty. When these shelters were exchanged for two very large ones, all the cockroaches arranged themselves in just one. These creatures, it seems, prefer the company of others, and a rather fair al location of resources. Should I therefore feel any admiration? It is hard in fact, in Western culture, cockroaches are almost universally depicted as repulsive and dirty pests. In the insects most famous literary appearance Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect, probably a cockroach (although the story never quite makes that clear). Gregors transformation results in very predictable responses from his family and friends, who can never accept him again. He eventually dies, outcast and lonely, despised and mistreated a potent symbol of alienation and rejection. Yet in the Pixar animated feature Wall-E, a cockroach provides essential companionship to a lone robot living on a planet scorched by a nuclear holocaust. Whatever the case, I am faced with a big problem: a large ugly cockroach crawling slowly across my sink, antennae waving as it explores around. If I try to grab it, it will dart away, and I doubt whether Ill be able to catch it before it disappears into the numerous cracks and crevices of my old apartment. So, I carefully remove my slipper, determined to squash the insect, but then almost scream again as it lifts on its legs, raises membranous wings, and with a loud buzzing noise, flies away. Oh, just what I need they can fly, too. | The author finds cockroaches more repulsive than centipedes. | c |
id_3622 | Its Only a Cockroach I turn on the light in my kitchen that night, and then I see it. I draw back, and my first instinct is to scream. I control myself with difficulty, but find myself shuddering, unable to deal with the creature before me. Its only a cockroach, but its large size, long antennae, shiny appearance, and spiny legs, all present a particularly disgusting appearance. And this is not just to me, but to everyone it seems, even to the point of phobic responses. This is certainly the over-riding reason I want these creatures totally eradicated from my apartment, but with their offensive odour, passive transportation of microbes, and trails of droppings, they also pose a distinct threat to domestic hygiene. Clearly, cohabitation is not possible. So, I do all I can to keep these pests away. Food is stored in sealed containers, garbage cans have tight lids, my kitchen is kept spotlessly clean, and my apartment swept and mopped nightly. I have also sealed up possible entry points, but still, these loathsome things find their way inside. I need a way to kill them. The most precise cockroach killer is, typically, another insect. A specific species of wasp targets these creatures. With a quick accurate swoop, it bites the cockroach at the main nerve centre of its body, which results in a temporary paralysis. This is very necessary, as we all know just how fast cockroaches can run. The wasp has only a few minutes to prepare its next sting, in the exact area of the brain which controls the cockroaches instinct to escape. After the paralysis departs, the cockroach is subdued and docile, and doomed. The wasp bites off the antennae to further discourage flight, then drags its victim away. Faced with such predation, cockroaches usually conceal themselves during the day, and with their ability to flatten their bodies, they can disappear into just about any tiny nook, crevice, and cranny. There, they wait patiently for darkness before emerging to search for food, and will usually run away when exposed to light. Given this, I am told that the slim and agile house centipede is probably the most effective cockroach predator, able to track down and root out the most carefully hidden prey. Unfortunately, I would say that centipedes are even more disgusting to have in ones house, if thats possible. I just cant win this game. Can anyone win? These insects are just about the hardiest, on the planet. Some can wait for up to three months before meals, some can survive on the barest hint of nutrition (such as the glue on the back of postage stamps), and some can live without air for over half an hour. They do not, however, handle cold weather well, preferring the warm conditions and security found within buildings. Hidden there, the female lays egg capsules containing around 40 eggs, and with the insects relatively long lifespan (about a year), some 300 to 400 offspring can ultimately be produced. The result: once these insects have infested a building, they are very difficult to eradicate. Cockroaches do, however, have some subtleties. They leave chemical messages in their droppings, as well as emit airborne pheromones to signal other cockroaches about sources of food and water, and alert them to their own presence. The latter is more important, for these insects are actually somewhat gregarious. Research has shown that cockroaches make group-based decisions, and tend to co-operate. One study placed a large number of cockroaches in a dish with three small shelters, and the insects divided themselves equally between two of them, leaving the third one empty. When these shelters were exchanged for two very large ones, all the cockroaches arranged themselves in just one. These creatures, it seems, prefer the company of others, and a rather fair al location of resources. Should I therefore feel any admiration? It is hard in fact, in Western culture, cockroaches are almost universally depicted as repulsive and dirty pests. In the insects most famous literary appearance Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect, probably a cockroach (although the story never quite makes that clear). Gregors transformation results in very predictable responses from his family and friends, who can never accept him again. He eventually dies, outcast and lonely, despised and mistreated a potent symbol of alienation and rejection. Yet in the Pixar animated feature Wall-E, a cockroach provides essential companionship to a lone robot living on a planet scorched by a nuclear holocaust. Whatever the case, I am faced with a big problem: a large ugly cockroach crawling slowly across my sink, antennae waving as it explores around. If I try to grab it, it will dart away, and I doubt whether Ill be able to catch it before it disappears into the numerous cracks and crevices of my old apartment. So, I carefully remove my slipper, determined to squash the insect, but then almost scream again as it lifts on its legs, raises membranous wings, and with a loud buzzing noise, flies away. Oh, just what I need they can fly, too. | Cockroaches live longer than many other insects. | e |
id_3623 | Its Only a Cockroach I turn on the light in my kitchen that night, and then I see it. I draw back, and my first instinct is to scream. I control myself with difficulty, but find myself shuddering, unable to deal with the creature before me. Its only a cockroach, but its large size, long antennae, shiny appearance, and spiny legs, all present a particularly disgusting appearance. And this is not just to me, but to everyone it seems, even to the point of phobic responses. This is certainly the over-riding reason I want these creatures totally eradicated from my apartment, but with their offensive odour, passive transportation of microbes, and trails of droppings, they also pose a distinct threat to domestic hygiene. Clearly, cohabitation is not possible. So, I do all I can to keep these pests away. Food is stored in sealed containers, garbage cans have tight lids, my kitchen is kept spotlessly clean, and my apartment swept and mopped nightly. I have also sealed up possible entry points, but still, these loathsome things find their way inside. I need a way to kill them. The most precise cockroach killer is, typically, another insect. A specific species of wasp targets these creatures. With a quick accurate swoop, it bites the cockroach at the main nerve centre of its body, which results in a temporary paralysis. This is very necessary, as we all know just how fast cockroaches can run. The wasp has only a few minutes to prepare its next sting, in the exact area of the brain which controls the cockroaches instinct to escape. After the paralysis departs, the cockroach is subdued and docile, and doomed. The wasp bites off the antennae to further discourage flight, then drags its victim away. Faced with such predation, cockroaches usually conceal themselves during the day, and with their ability to flatten their bodies, they can disappear into just about any tiny nook, crevice, and cranny. There, they wait patiently for darkness before emerging to search for food, and will usually run away when exposed to light. Given this, I am told that the slim and agile house centipede is probably the most effective cockroach predator, able to track down and root out the most carefully hidden prey. Unfortunately, I would say that centipedes are even more disgusting to have in ones house, if thats possible. I just cant win this game. Can anyone win? These insects are just about the hardiest, on the planet. Some can wait for up to three months before meals, some can survive on the barest hint of nutrition (such as the glue on the back of postage stamps), and some can live without air for over half an hour. They do not, however, handle cold weather well, preferring the warm conditions and security found within buildings. Hidden there, the female lays egg capsules containing around 40 eggs, and with the insects relatively long lifespan (about a year), some 300 to 400 offspring can ultimately be produced. The result: once these insects have infested a building, they are very difficult to eradicate. Cockroaches do, however, have some subtleties. They leave chemical messages in their droppings, as well as emit airborne pheromones to signal other cockroaches about sources of food and water, and alert them to their own presence. The latter is more important, for these insects are actually somewhat gregarious. Research has shown that cockroaches make group-based decisions, and tend to co-operate. One study placed a large number of cockroaches in a dish with three small shelters, and the insects divided themselves equally between two of them, leaving the third one empty. When these shelters were exchanged for two very large ones, all the cockroaches arranged themselves in just one. These creatures, it seems, prefer the company of others, and a rather fair al location of resources. Should I therefore feel any admiration? It is hard in fact, in Western culture, cockroaches are almost universally depicted as repulsive and dirty pests. In the insects most famous literary appearance Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect, probably a cockroach (although the story never quite makes that clear). Gregors transformation results in very predictable responses from his family and friends, who can never accept him again. He eventually dies, outcast and lonely, despised and mistreated a potent symbol of alienation and rejection. Yet in the Pixar animated feature Wall-E, a cockroach provides essential companionship to a lone robot living on a planet scorched by a nuclear holocaust. Whatever the case, I am faced with a big problem: a large ugly cockroach crawling slowly across my sink, antennae waving as it explores around. If I try to grab it, it will dart away, and I doubt whether Ill be able to catch it before it disappears into the numerous cracks and crevices of my old apartment. So, I carefully remove my slipper, determined to squash the insect, but then almost scream again as it lifts on its legs, raises membranous wings, and with a loud buzzing noise, flies away. Oh, just what I need they can fly, too. | Cockroaches will fight over food. | c |
id_3624 | Its your choice or is it really? We are constantly required to process a wide range of information to make decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are trivial, such as what marmalade to buy. At other times, the stakes are higher, such as deciding which symptoms to report to the doctor. However, the fact that we are accustomed to processing large amounts of information does not mean that we are better at it (Chabris & Simons, 2009). Our sensory and cognitive systems have systematic ways of failing of which we are often, perhaps blissfully, unaware. Imagine that you are taking a walk in your local city park when a tourist approaches you asking for directions. During the conversation, two men carrying a door pass between the two of you. If the person asking for directions had changed places with one of the people carrying the door, would you notice? Research suggests that you might not. Harvard psychologists Simons and Levi (1998) conducted a field study using this exact set-up and found that the change in identity went unnoticed by 7 (46.6%) of the 15 participants. This phenomenon has been termed change blindnessand refers to the difficulty that observers have in noticing changes to visual scenes (e. g. the person swap), when the changes are accompanied by some other visual disturbance (e. g. the passing of the door). Over the past decade, the change blindness phenomenon has been replicated many times. Especially noteworthy is an experiment by Davies and Hine (2007) who studied whether change blindness affects eyewitness identification. Specifically, participants were presented with a video enactment of a burglary. In the video, a man entered a house, walking through the different rooms and putting valuables into a knapsack. However, the identity of the burglar changed after the first half of the film while the initial burglar was out of sight. Out of the 80 participants, 49 (61%) did not notice the change of the burglars identity, suggesting that change blindness may have serious implications for criminal proceedings. To most of us, it seems bizarre that people could miss such obvious changes while they are paying active attention. However, to catch those changes, attention must be targeted to the changing feature. In the study described above, participants were likely not to have been expecting the change to happen, and so their attention may have been focused on the valuables the burglar was stealing, rather than the burglar. Drawing from change blindness research, scientists have come to the conclusion that we perceive the world in much less detail than previously thought (Johansson, Hall, & Sikstrom, 2008). Rather than monitoring all of the visual details that surround us, we seem to focus our attention only on those features that are currently meaningful or important, ignoring those that are irrelevant to our current needs and goals. Thus at any given time, our representation of the world surrounding us is crude and incomplete, making it possible for changes or manipulations to go undetected (Chabris & Simons, 2010). Given the difficulty people have in noticing changes to visual stimuli, one may wonder what would happen if these changes concerned the decisions people make. To examine choice blindness, Hall and colleagues (2010) invited supermarket customers to sample two different kinds of jams and teas. After participants had tasted or smelled both samples, they indicated which one they preferred. Subsequently, they were purportedly given another sample of their preferred choice. On half of the trials, however, these were samples of the non-chosen jam or tea. As expected, only about one-third of the participants detected this manipulation. Based on these findings, Hall and colleagues proposed that choice blindness is a phenomenon that occurs not only for choices involving visual material, but also for choices involving gustatory and olfactory information. Recently, the phenomenon has also been replicated for choices involving auditory stimuli (Sauerland, Sagana, & Otgaar, 2012). Specifically, participants had to listen to three pairs of voices and decide for each pair which voice they found more sympathetic or more criminal. The voice was then presented again; however, the outcome was manipulated for the second voice pair and participants were presented with the non-chosen voice. Replicating the findings by Hall and colleagues, only 29% of the participants detected this change. Merckelbach, Jelicic, and Pieters (2011) investigated choice blindness for intensity ratings of ones own psychological symptoms. Their participants had to rate the frequency with which they experienced 90 common symptoms (e. g. anxiety, lack of concentration, stress, headaches etc. ) on a 5-point scale. Prior to a follow-up interview, the researchers inflated ratings for two symptoms by two points. For example, when participants had rated their feelings of shyness, as 2 (i. e. occasionally), it was changed to 4 (i. e. all the time). This time, more than half (57%) of the 28 participants were blind to the symptom rating escalation and accepted it as their own symptom intensity rating. This demonstrates that blindness is not limited to recent preference selections, but can also occur for intensity and frequency. Together, these studies suggest that choice blindness can occur in a wide variety of situations and can have serious implications for medical and judicial outcomes. Future research is needed to determine how, in those situations, choice blindness can be avoided. | A legal trial could be significantly affected by change blindness. | e |
id_3625 | Its your choice or is it really? We are constantly required to process a wide range of information to make decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are trivial, such as what marmalade to buy. At other times, the stakes are higher, such as deciding which symptoms to report to the doctor. However, the fact that we are accustomed to processing large amounts of information does not mean that we are better at it (Chabris & Simons, 2009). Our sensory and cognitive systems have systematic ways of failing of which we are often, perhaps blissfully, unaware. Imagine that you are taking a walk in your local city park when a tourist approaches you asking for directions. During the conversation, two men carrying a door pass between the two of you. If the person asking for directions had changed places with one of the people carrying the door, would you notice? Research suggests that you might not. Harvard psychologists Simons and Levi (1998) conducted a field study using this exact set-up and found that the change in identity went unnoticed by 7 (46.6%) of the 15 participants. This phenomenon has been termed change blindnessand refers to the difficulty that observers have in noticing changes to visual scenes (e. g. the person swap), when the changes are accompanied by some other visual disturbance (e. g. the passing of the door). Over the past decade, the change blindness phenomenon has been replicated many times. Especially noteworthy is an experiment by Davies and Hine (2007) who studied whether change blindness affects eyewitness identification. Specifically, participants were presented with a video enactment of a burglary. In the video, a man entered a house, walking through the different rooms and putting valuables into a knapsack. However, the identity of the burglar changed after the first half of the film while the initial burglar was out of sight. Out of the 80 participants, 49 (61%) did not notice the change of the burglars identity, suggesting that change blindness may have serious implications for criminal proceedings. To most of us, it seems bizarre that people could miss such obvious changes while they are paying active attention. However, to catch those changes, attention must be targeted to the changing feature. In the study described above, participants were likely not to have been expecting the change to happen, and so their attention may have been focused on the valuables the burglar was stealing, rather than the burglar. Drawing from change blindness research, scientists have come to the conclusion that we perceive the world in much less detail than previously thought (Johansson, Hall, & Sikstrom, 2008). Rather than monitoring all of the visual details that surround us, we seem to focus our attention only on those features that are currently meaningful or important, ignoring those that are irrelevant to our current needs and goals. Thus at any given time, our representation of the world surrounding us is crude and incomplete, making it possible for changes or manipulations to go undetected (Chabris & Simons, 2010). Given the difficulty people have in noticing changes to visual stimuli, one may wonder what would happen if these changes concerned the decisions people make. To examine choice blindness, Hall and colleagues (2010) invited supermarket customers to sample two different kinds of jams and teas. After participants had tasted or smelled both samples, they indicated which one they preferred. Subsequently, they were purportedly given another sample of their preferred choice. On half of the trials, however, these were samples of the non-chosen jam or tea. As expected, only about one-third of the participants detected this manipulation. Based on these findings, Hall and colleagues proposed that choice blindness is a phenomenon that occurs not only for choices involving visual material, but also for choices involving gustatory and olfactory information. Recently, the phenomenon has also been replicated for choices involving auditory stimuli (Sauerland, Sagana, & Otgaar, 2012). Specifically, participants had to listen to three pairs of voices and decide for each pair which voice they found more sympathetic or more criminal. The voice was then presented again; however, the outcome was manipulated for the second voice pair and participants were presented with the non-chosen voice. Replicating the findings by Hall and colleagues, only 29% of the participants detected this change. Merckelbach, Jelicic, and Pieters (2011) investigated choice blindness for intensity ratings of ones own psychological symptoms. Their participants had to rate the frequency with which they experienced 90 common symptoms (e. g. anxiety, lack of concentration, stress, headaches etc. ) on a 5-point scale. Prior to a follow-up interview, the researchers inflated ratings for two symptoms by two points. For example, when participants had rated their feelings of shyness, as 2 (i. e. occasionally), it was changed to 4 (i. e. all the time). This time, more than half (57%) of the 28 participants were blind to the symptom rating escalation and accepted it as their own symptom intensity rating. This demonstrates that blindness is not limited to recent preference selections, but can also occur for intensity and frequency. Together, these studies suggest that choice blindness can occur in a wide variety of situations and can have serious implications for medical and judicial outcomes. Future research is needed to determine how, in those situations, choice blindness can be avoided. | Doctors make decisions according to the symptoms that a patient describes. | n |
id_3626 | Its your choice or is it really? We are constantly required to process a wide range of information to make decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are trivial, such as what marmalade to buy. At other times, the stakes are higher, such as deciding which symptoms to report to the doctor. However, the fact that we are accustomed to processing large amounts of information does not mean that we are better at it (Chabris & Simons, 2009). Our sensory and cognitive systems have systematic ways of failing of which we are often, perhaps blissfully, unaware. Imagine that you are taking a walk in your local city park when a tourist approaches you asking for directions. During the conversation, two men carrying a door pass between the two of you. If the person asking for directions had changed places with one of the people carrying the door, would you notice? Research suggests that you might not. Harvard psychologists Simons and Levi (1998) conducted a field study using this exact set-up and found that the change in identity went unnoticed by 7 (46.6%) of the 15 participants. This phenomenon has been termed change blindnessand refers to the difficulty that observers have in noticing changes to visual scenes (e. g. the person swap), when the changes are accompanied by some other visual disturbance (e. g. the passing of the door). Over the past decade, the change blindness phenomenon has been replicated many times. Especially noteworthy is an experiment by Davies and Hine (2007) who studied whether change blindness affects eyewitness identification. Specifically, participants were presented with a video enactment of a burglary. In the video, a man entered a house, walking through the different rooms and putting valuables into a knapsack. However, the identity of the burglar changed after the first half of the film while the initial burglar was out of sight. Out of the 80 participants, 49 (61%) did not notice the change of the burglars identity, suggesting that change blindness may have serious implications for criminal proceedings. To most of us, it seems bizarre that people could miss such obvious changes while they are paying active attention. However, to catch those changes, attention must be targeted to the changing feature. In the study described above, participants were likely not to have been expecting the change to happen, and so their attention may have been focused on the valuables the burglar was stealing, rather than the burglar. Drawing from change blindness research, scientists have come to the conclusion that we perceive the world in much less detail than previously thought (Johansson, Hall, & Sikstrom, 2008). Rather than monitoring all of the visual details that surround us, we seem to focus our attention only on those features that are currently meaningful or important, ignoring those that are irrelevant to our current needs and goals. Thus at any given time, our representation of the world surrounding us is crude and incomplete, making it possible for changes or manipulations to go undetected (Chabris & Simons, 2010). Given the difficulty people have in noticing changes to visual stimuli, one may wonder what would happen if these changes concerned the decisions people make. To examine choice blindness, Hall and colleagues (2010) invited supermarket customers to sample two different kinds of jams and teas. After participants had tasted or smelled both samples, they indicated which one they preferred. Subsequently, they were purportedly given another sample of their preferred choice. On half of the trials, however, these were samples of the non-chosen jam or tea. As expected, only about one-third of the participants detected this manipulation. Based on these findings, Hall and colleagues proposed that choice blindness is a phenomenon that occurs not only for choices involving visual material, but also for choices involving gustatory and olfactory information. Recently, the phenomenon has also been replicated for choices involving auditory stimuli (Sauerland, Sagana, & Otgaar, 2012). Specifically, participants had to listen to three pairs of voices and decide for each pair which voice they found more sympathetic or more criminal. The voice was then presented again; however, the outcome was manipulated for the second voice pair and participants were presented with the non-chosen voice. Replicating the findings by Hall and colleagues, only 29% of the participants detected this change. Merckelbach, Jelicic, and Pieters (2011) investigated choice blindness for intensity ratings of ones own psychological symptoms. Their participants had to rate the frequency with which they experienced 90 common symptoms (e. g. anxiety, lack of concentration, stress, headaches etc. ) on a 5-point scale. Prior to a follow-up interview, the researchers inflated ratings for two symptoms by two points. For example, when participants had rated their feelings of shyness, as 2 (i. e. occasionally), it was changed to 4 (i. e. all the time). This time, more than half (57%) of the 28 participants were blind to the symptom rating escalation and accepted it as their own symptom intensity rating. This demonstrates that blindness is not limited to recent preference selections, but can also occur for intensity and frequency. Together, these studies suggest that choice blindness can occur in a wide variety of situations and can have serious implications for medical and judicial outcomes. Future research is needed to determine how, in those situations, choice blindness can be avoided. | We tend to know when we have made an error of judgement. | c |
id_3627 | Its your choice or is it really? We are constantly required to process a wide range of information to make decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are trivial, such as what marmalade to buy. At other times, the stakes are higher, such as deciding which symptoms to report to the doctor. However, the fact that we are accustomed to processing large amounts of information does not mean that we are better at it (Chabris & Simons, 2009). Our sensory and cognitive systems have systematic ways of failing of which we are often, perhaps blissfully, unaware. Imagine that you are taking a walk in your local city park when a tourist approaches you asking for directions. During the conversation, two men carrying a door pass between the two of you. If the person asking for directions had changed places with one of the people carrying the door, would you notice? Research suggests that you might not. Harvard psychologists Simons and Levi (1998) conducted a field study using this exact set-up and found that the change in identity went unnoticed by 7 (46.6%) of the 15 participants. This phenomenon has been termed change blindnessand refers to the difficulty that observers have in noticing changes to visual scenes (e. g. the person swap), when the changes are accompanied by some other visual disturbance (e. g. the passing of the door). Over the past decade, the change blindness phenomenon has been replicated many times. Especially noteworthy is an experiment by Davies and Hine (2007) who studied whether change blindness affects eyewitness identification. Specifically, participants were presented with a video enactment of a burglary. In the video, a man entered a house, walking through the different rooms and putting valuables into a knapsack. However, the identity of the burglar changed after the first half of the film while the initial burglar was out of sight. Out of the 80 participants, 49 (61%) did not notice the change of the burglars identity, suggesting that change blindness may have serious implications for criminal proceedings. To most of us, it seems bizarre that people could miss such obvious changes while they are paying active attention. However, to catch those changes, attention must be targeted to the changing feature. In the study described above, participants were likely not to have been expecting the change to happen, and so their attention may have been focused on the valuables the burglar was stealing, rather than the burglar. Drawing from change blindness research, scientists have come to the conclusion that we perceive the world in much less detail than previously thought (Johansson, Hall, & Sikstrom, 2008). Rather than monitoring all of the visual details that surround us, we seem to focus our attention only on those features that are currently meaningful or important, ignoring those that are irrelevant to our current needs and goals. Thus at any given time, our representation of the world surrounding us is crude and incomplete, making it possible for changes or manipulations to go undetected (Chabris & Simons, 2010). Given the difficulty people have in noticing changes to visual stimuli, one may wonder what would happen if these changes concerned the decisions people make. To examine choice blindness, Hall and colleagues (2010) invited supermarket customers to sample two different kinds of jams and teas. After participants had tasted or smelled both samples, they indicated which one they preferred. Subsequently, they were purportedly given another sample of their preferred choice. On half of the trials, however, these were samples of the non-chosen jam or tea. As expected, only about one-third of the participants detected this manipulation. Based on these findings, Hall and colleagues proposed that choice blindness is a phenomenon that occurs not only for choices involving visual material, but also for choices involving gustatory and olfactory information. Recently, the phenomenon has also been replicated for choices involving auditory stimuli (Sauerland, Sagana, & Otgaar, 2012). Specifically, participants had to listen to three pairs of voices and decide for each pair which voice they found more sympathetic or more criminal. The voice was then presented again; however, the outcome was manipulated for the second voice pair and participants were presented with the non-chosen voice. Replicating the findings by Hall and colleagues, only 29% of the participants detected this change. Merckelbach, Jelicic, and Pieters (2011) investigated choice blindness for intensity ratings of ones own psychological symptoms. Their participants had to rate the frequency with which they experienced 90 common symptoms (e. g. anxiety, lack of concentration, stress, headaches etc. ) on a 5-point scale. Prior to a follow-up interview, the researchers inflated ratings for two symptoms by two points. For example, when participants had rated their feelings of shyness, as 2 (i. e. occasionally), it was changed to 4 (i. e. all the time). This time, more than half (57%) of the 28 participants were blind to the symptom rating escalation and accepted it as their own symptom intensity rating. This demonstrates that blindness is not limited to recent preference selections, but can also occur for intensity and frequency. Together, these studies suggest that choice blindness can occur in a wide variety of situations and can have serious implications for medical and judicial outcomes. Future research is needed to determine how, in those situations, choice blindness can be avoided. | Our ability to deal with a lot of input material has improved over time. | c |
id_3628 | Its your choice or is it really? We are constantly required to process a wide range of information to make decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are trivial, such as what marmalade to buy. At other times, the stakes are higher, such as deciding which symptoms to report to the doctor. However, the fact that we are accustomed to processing large amounts of information does not mean that we are better at it (Chabris & Simons, 2009). Our sensory and cognitive systems have systematic ways of failing of which we are often, perhaps blissfully, unaware. Imagine that you are taking a walk in your local city park when a tourist approaches you asking for directions. During the conversation, two men carrying a door pass between the two of you. If the person asking for directions had changed places with one of the people carrying the door, would you notice? Research suggests that you might not. Harvard psychologists Simons and Levi (1998) conducted a field study using this exact set-up and found that the change in identity went unnoticed by 7 (46.6%) of the 15 participants. This phenomenon has been termed change blindnessand refers to the difficulty that observers have in noticing changes to visual scenes (e. g. the person swap), when the changes are accompanied by some other visual disturbance (e. g. the passing of the door). Over the past decade, the change blindness phenomenon has been replicated many times. Especially noteworthy is an experiment by Davies and Hine (2007) who studied whether change blindness affects eyewitness identification. Specifically, participants were presented with a video enactment of a burglary. In the video, a man entered a house, walking through the different rooms and putting valuables into a knapsack. However, the identity of the burglar changed after the first half of the film while the initial burglar was out of sight. Out of the 80 participants, 49 (61%) did not notice the change of the burglars identity, suggesting that change blindness may have serious implications for criminal proceedings. To most of us, it seems bizarre that people could miss such obvious changes while they are paying active attention. However, to catch those changes, attention must be targeted to the changing feature. In the study described above, participants were likely not to have been expecting the change to happen, and so their attention may have been focused on the valuables the burglar was stealing, rather than the burglar. Drawing from change blindness research, scientists have come to the conclusion that we perceive the world in much less detail than previously thought (Johansson, Hall, & Sikstrom, 2008). Rather than monitoring all of the visual details that surround us, we seem to focus our attention only on those features that are currently meaningful or important, ignoring those that are irrelevant to our current needs and goals. Thus at any given time, our representation of the world surrounding us is crude and incomplete, making it possible for changes or manipulations to go undetected (Chabris & Simons, 2010). Given the difficulty people have in noticing changes to visual stimuli, one may wonder what would happen if these changes concerned the decisions people make. To examine choice blindness, Hall and colleagues (2010) invited supermarket customers to sample two different kinds of jams and teas. After participants had tasted or smelled both samples, they indicated which one they preferred. Subsequently, they were purportedly given another sample of their preferred choice. On half of the trials, however, these were samples of the non-chosen jam or tea. As expected, only about one-third of the participants detected this manipulation. Based on these findings, Hall and colleagues proposed that choice blindness is a phenomenon that occurs not only for choices involving visual material, but also for choices involving gustatory and olfactory information. Recently, the phenomenon has also been replicated for choices involving auditory stimuli (Sauerland, Sagana, & Otgaar, 2012). Specifically, participants had to listen to three pairs of voices and decide for each pair which voice they found more sympathetic or more criminal. The voice was then presented again; however, the outcome was manipulated for the second voice pair and participants were presented with the non-chosen voice. Replicating the findings by Hall and colleagues, only 29% of the participants detected this change. Merckelbach, Jelicic, and Pieters (2011) investigated choice blindness for intensity ratings of ones own psychological symptoms. Their participants had to rate the frequency with which they experienced 90 common symptoms (e. g. anxiety, lack of concentration, stress, headaches etc. ) on a 5-point scale. Prior to a follow-up interview, the researchers inflated ratings for two symptoms by two points. For example, when participants had rated their feelings of shyness, as 2 (i. e. occasionally), it was changed to 4 (i. e. all the time). This time, more than half (57%) of the 28 participants were blind to the symptom rating escalation and accepted it as their own symptom intensity rating. This demonstrates that blindness is not limited to recent preference selections, but can also occur for intensity and frequency. Together, these studies suggest that choice blindness can occur in a wide variety of situations and can have serious implications for medical and judicial outcomes. Future research is needed to determine how, in those situations, choice blindness can be avoided. | Scientists have concluded that we try to take in as much detail as possible from our surroundings. | c |
id_3629 | Jane, Rachel and Tessa are girls who are wearing a jacket, coat or skirt in blue, green or red. None of these articles of clothing is the same colour and each girl is wearing a different colour. The coat belonging to Tessa is not green. Rachels jacket and Janes skirt are the same colour. Tessas skirt is red. Her jacket, Rachels skirt and Janes coat are all the same colour. | Tessas coat is blue | e |
id_3630 | Jane, Rachel and Tessa are girls who are wearing a jacket, coat or skirt in blue, green or red. None of these articles of clothing is the same colour and each girl is wearing a different colour. The coat belonging to Tessa is not green. Rachels jacket and Janes skirt are the same colour. Tessas skirt is red. Her jacket, Rachels skirt and Janes coat are all the same colour. | Janes jacket is red. | e |
id_3631 | Jane, Rachel and Tessa are girls who are wearing a jacket, coat or skirt in blue, green or red. None of these articles of clothing is the same colour and each girl is wearing a different colour. The coat belonging to Tessa is not green. Rachels jacket and Janes skirt are the same colour. Tessas skirt is red. Her jacket, Rachels skirt and Janes coat are all the same colour. | Jane has the green coat | e |
id_3632 | Jane, Rachel and Tessa are girls who are wearing a jacket, coat or skirt in blue, green or red. None of these articles of clothing is the same colour and each girl is wearing a different colour. The coat belonging to Tessa is not green. Rachels jacket and Janes skirt are the same colour. Tessas skirt is red. Her jacket, Rachels skirt and Janes coat are all the same colour. | Rachel has the blue jacket | e |
id_3633 | Japans population is projected to fall from the current almost 130 million to around 90 million by the middle of the next century and this smaller population will be faced with the added challenge that it will be disproportionately elderly. By then Japans total GDP will be half that of Indias and one-fifth the size of Chinas and Japan will have slipped to being the fifth largest super power in terms of the size of its GDP. Japans answer to the challenge to its competitiveness is to seek out even greater innovation. It is currently very innovative if you measure it in terms of the number of patents registered and the amount spent on research and development. But in other measures of innovation it does not score so well. When compared to the European Union and the United States of America (currently the economic zones with the largest GDPs) its working practices are considered inflexible and it shuns foreign investment and cultural influences. The latter two are considered important because unless Japan engages in new ways of thinking and changes in worldwide values it is hard to see how it will remain the pioneer of bestselling products to future generations. | 5. The tone of the passage suggests that the ability to engage in new ways of thinking can be attributed to India and China. | c |
id_3634 | Japans population is projected to fall from the current almost 130 million to around 90 million by the middle of the next century and this smaller population will be faced with the added challenge that it will be disproportionately elderly. By then Japans total GDP will be half that of Indias and one-fifth the size of Chinas and Japan will have slipped to being the fifth largest super power in terms of the size of its GDP. Japans answer to the challenge to its competitiveness is to seek out even greater innovation. It is currently very innovative if you measure it in terms of the number of patents registered and the amount spent on research and development. But in other measures of innovation it does not score so well. When compared to the European Union and the United States of America (currently the economic zones with the largest GDPs) its working practices are considered inflexible and it shuns foreign investment and cultural influences. The latter two are considered important because unless Japan engages in new ways of thinking and changes in worldwide values it is hard to see how it will remain the pioneer of bestselling products to future generations. | The big question for Japan is how it is to remain competitive. | e |
id_3635 | Joan Verse left her one-year-old daughter in the pram outside the butchers as she went into the shop at 11.15 on Thursday 4 February. When she emerged neither the pram nor the baby were there. She rang the police on her mobile phone and reported the theft of her daughter at 11.30. A reliable witness saw a very tall, thin young man running down the street carrying a young baby that same morning at 11.20. It is also known that: The butchers shop is on a steep hill. Joan Verse is divorced with two children. It was extremely icy underfoot and temperatures were below freezing. Joan Verse was in the process of fighting for custody of her child with her ex-husband. Joan was tall and her ex-husband was shorter than her and overweight. The pram was over 11 years old. Joan was having an affair with the college-student son of one of her neighbours. Downhill, the street led to the village pond, 40 metres from the newsagents shop. | The college student may be the father of the missing one-year-old girl. | e |
id_3636 | Joan Verse left her one-year-old daughter in the pram outside the butchers as she went into the shop at 11.15 on Thursday 4 February. When she emerged neither the pram nor the baby were there. She rang the police on her mobile phone and reported the theft of her daughter at 11.30. A reliable witness saw a very tall, thin young man running down the street carrying a young baby that same morning at 11.20. It is also known that: The butchers shop is on a steep hill. Joan Verse is divorced with two children. It was extremely icy underfoot and temperatures were below freezing. Joan Verse was in the process of fighting for custody of her child with her ex-husband. Joan was tall and her ex-husband was shorter than her and overweight. The pram was over 11 years old. Joan was having an affair with the college-student son of one of her neighbours. Downhill, the street led to the village pond, 40 metres from the newsagents shop. | The baby girl had been kidnapped. | n |
id_3637 | Joan Verse left her one-year-old daughter in the pram outside the butchers as she went into the shop at 11.15 on Thursday 4 February. When she emerged neither the pram nor the baby were there. She rang the police on her mobile phone and reported the theft of her daughter at 11.30. A reliable witness saw a very tall, thin young man running down the street carrying a young baby that same morning at 11.20. It is also known that: The butchers shop is on a steep hill. Joan Verse is divorced with two children. It was extremely icy underfoot and temperatures were below freezing. Joan Verse was in the process of fighting for custody of her child with her ex-husband. Joan was tall and her ex-husband was shorter than her and overweight. The pram was over 11 years old. Joan was having an affair with the college-student son of one of her neighbours. Downhill, the street led to the village pond, 40 metres from the newsagents shop. | Joans ex-husband was seen running down the street carrying a young baby on 4 February. | c |
id_3638 | Joan Verse left her one-year-old daughter in the pram outside the butchers as she went into the shop at 11.15 on Thursday 4 February. When she emerged neither the pram nor the baby were there. She rang the police on her mobile phone and reported the theft of her daughter at 11.30. A reliable witness saw a very tall, thin young man running down the street carrying a young baby that same morning at 11.20. It is also known that: The butchers shop is on a steep hill. Joan Verse is divorced with two children. It was extremely icy underfoot and temperatures were below freezing. Joan Verse was in the process of fighting for custody of her child with her ex-husband. Joan was tall and her ex-husband was shorter than her and overweight. The pram was over 11 years old. Joan was having an affair with the college-student son of one of her neighbours. Downhill, the street led to the village pond, 40 metres from the newsagents shop. | The brakes on the pram could have failed, causing the pram to slide out of control down the street and across the frozen pond. | e |
id_3639 | Joan Verse left her one-year-old daughter in the pram outside the butchers as she went into the shop at 11.15 on Thursday 4 February. When she emerged neither the pram nor the baby were there. She rang the police on her mobile phone and reported the theft of her daughter at 11.30. A reliable witness saw a very tall, thin young man running down the street carrying a young baby that same morning at 11.20. It is also known that: The butchers shop is on a steep hill. Joan Verse is divorced with two children. It was extremely icy underfoot and temperatures were below freezing. Joan Verse was in the process of fighting for custody of her child with her ex-husband. Joan was tall and her ex-husband was shorter than her and overweight. The pram was over 11 years old. Joan was having an affair with the college-student son of one of her neighbours. Downhill, the street led to the village pond, 40 metres from the newsagents shop. | Joan Verse was a vegetarian. | n |
id_3640 | Job-sharing is a system whereby two or more people share one job, each individual working a certain proportion of the overall working week. Job-sharing arrangements are available in about 20% of companies, but mostly on an informal basis. Interestingly, participation is greatest amongst administrative staff and is often associated with either easing child care responsibilities or helping staff to look after elderly relatives. | Job-sharing is becoming more common in companies. | n |
id_3641 | Job-sharing is a system whereby two or more people share one job, each individual working a certain proportion of the overall working week. Job-sharing arrangements are available in about 20% of companies, but mostly on an informal basis. Interestingly, participation is greatest amongst administrative staff and is often associated with either easing child care responsibilities or helping staff to look after elderly relatives. | People who have children enjoy job-sharing more than others. | e |
id_3642 | Job-sharing is a system whereby two or more people share one job, each individual working a certain proportion of the overall working week. Job-sharing arrangements are available in about 20% of companies, but mostly on an informal basis. Interestingly, participation is greatest amongst administrative staff and is often associated with either easing child care responsibilities or helping staff to look after elderly relatives. | Job-sharing is most prevalent among administrative staff. | e |
id_3643 | John Spark, a 32-year-old self-employed electrician, was given a suspended sentence at Thirskston Magistrates Court together with a fine of 1,000. Spark had been arrested and charged by the police for a violent assault on a young man who was playing pool with friends in a public house. It is also known that: The assault occurred following an argument that broke out between those playing pool and a group trying to watch a football match on television. A man called Martin Sore was treated on the evening of the assault at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the local hospital for a broken nose, bruised face and strained neck. Witnesses said that they had heard the complainant mocking John Spark about his private life. The landlord said that the argument which led to the assault had been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. | The defendant John Spark was sent to prison and fined 1,000 at the Magistrates Court. | c |
id_3644 | John Spark, a 32-year-old self-employed electrician, was given a suspended sentence at Thirskston Magistrates Court together with a fine of 1,000. Spark had been arrested and charged by the police for a violent assault on a young man who was playing pool with friends in a public house. It is also known that: The assault occurred following an argument that broke out between those playing pool and a group trying to watch a football match on television. A man called Martin Sore was treated on the evening of the assault at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the local hospital for a broken nose, bruised face and strained neck. Witnesses said that they had heard the complainant mocking John Spark about his private life. The landlord said that the argument which led to the assault had been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. | Martin Sore was treated in hospital for multiple injuries. | e |
id_3645 | John Spark, a 32-year-old self-employed electrician, was given a suspended sentence at Thirskston Magistrates Court together with a fine of 1,000. Spark had been arrested and charged by the police for a violent assault on a young man who was playing pool with friends in a public house. It is also known that: The assault occurred following an argument that broke out between those playing pool and a group trying to watch a football match on television. A man called Martin Sore was treated on the evening of the assault at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the local hospital for a broken nose, bruised face and strained neck. Witnesses said that they had heard the complainant mocking John Spark about his private life. The landlord said that the argument which led to the assault had been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. | Martin Sore had provoked the assault by mocking John Spark about his private life. | n |
id_3646 | John Spark, a 32-year-old self-employed electrician, was given a suspended sentence at Thirskston Magistrates Court together with a fine of 1,000. Spark had been arrested and charged by the police for a violent assault on a young man who was playing pool with friends in a public house. It is also known that: The assault occurred following an argument that broke out between those playing pool and a group trying to watch a football match on television. A man called Martin Sore was treated on the evening of the assault at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the local hospital for a broken nose, bruised face and strained neck. Witnesses said that they had heard the complainant mocking John Spark about his private life. The landlord said that the argument which led to the assault had been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. | Two groups were involved in the argument in the public house, which led to the assault by John Spark. | e |
id_3647 | John Spark, a 32-year-old self-employed electrician, was given a suspended sentence at Thirskston Magistrates Court together with a fine of 1,000. Spark had been arrested and charged by the police for a violent assault on a young man who was playing pool with friends in a public house. It is also known that: The assault occurred following an argument that broke out between those playing pool and a group trying to watch a football match on television. A man called Martin Sore was treated on the evening of the assault at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the local hospital for a broken nose, bruised face and strained neck. Witnesses said that they had heard the complainant mocking John Spark about his private life. The landlord said that the argument which led to the assault had been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. | The assault by John Spark took place in the poolroom of the public house where the incident took place. | n |
id_3648 | John and his partner Sarah are keen supporters of Midchester City Football Club and were travelling from Midchester to Oldfield to watch their team play in the FA Cup. The distance from Midchester to Oldfield is about 190 miles and John estimated that the travelling time would be about four hours. After they had been travelling for just under two hours they stopped for a break at a service station. On returning to the car they found that they had a puncture in one of the front tyres and so the wheel had to be changed. This took about 45 minutes. Shortly after leaving the service station they were stopped by a police patrol car for exceeding the speed limit. It is also known that: The driver passed a breathalyser test. The delay caused by changing the wheel had made them late for the start of the football match. Three years earlier John had his driving licence suspended for 12 months for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sarah is a sales representative and has the use of a company car. It was raining heavily at the time the car was stopped. | The car was stopped because it was exceeding the maximum speed limit. | n |
id_3649 | John and his partner Sarah are keen supporters of Midchester City Football Club and were travelling from Midchester to Oldfield to watch their team play in the FA Cup. The distance from Midchester to Oldfield is about 190 miles and John estimated that the travelling time would be about four hours. After they had been travelling for just under two hours they stopped for a break at a service station. On returning to the car they found that they had a puncture in one of the front tyres and so the wheel had to be changed. This took about 45 minutes. Shortly after leaving the service station they were stopped by a police patrol car for exceeding the speed limit. It is also known that: The driver passed a breathalyser test. The delay caused by changing the wheel had made them late for the start of the football match. Three years earlier John had his driving licence suspended for 12 months for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sarah is a sales representative and has the use of a company car. It was raining heavily at the time the car was stopped. | The car was stopped about 80 miles from Midchester. Verbal logical reasoning tests | c |
id_3650 | John and his partner Sarah are keen supporters of Midchester City Football Club and were travelling from Midchester to Oldfield to watch their team play in the FA Cup. The distance from Midchester to Oldfield is about 190 miles and John estimated that the travelling time would be about four hours. After they had been travelling for just under two hours they stopped for a break at a service station. On returning to the car they found that they had a puncture in one of the front tyres and so the wheel had to be changed. This took about 45 minutes. Shortly after leaving the service station they were stopped by a police patrol car for exceeding the speed limit. It is also known that: The driver passed a breathalyser test. The delay caused by changing the wheel had made them late for the start of the football match. Three years earlier John had his driving licence suspended for 12 months for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sarah is a sales representative and has the use of a company car. It was raining heavily at the time the car was stopped. | Sarah was driving the car at the time it was stopped. | n |
id_3651 | John and his partner Sarah are keen supporters of Midchester City Football Club and were travelling from Midchester to Oldfield to watch their team play in the FA Cup. The distance from Midchester to Oldfield is about 190 miles and John estimated that the travelling time would be about four hours. After they had been travelling for just under two hours they stopped for a break at a service station. On returning to the car they found that they had a puncture in one of the front tyres and so the wheel had to be changed. This took about 45 minutes. Shortly after leaving the service station they were stopped by a police patrol car for exceeding the speed limit. It is also known that: The driver passed a breathalyser test. The delay caused by changing the wheel had made them late for the start of the football match. Three years earlier John had his driving licence suspended for 12 months for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sarah is a sales representative and has the use of a company car. It was raining heavily at the time the car was stopped. | The service station is about halfway between Midchester and Oldfield. | e |
id_3652 | John and his partner Sarah are keen supporters of Midchester City Football Club and were travelling from Midchester to Oldfield to watch their team play in the FA Cup. The distance from Midchester to Oldfield is about 190 miles and John estimated that the travelling time would be about four hours. After they had been travelling for just under two hours they stopped for a break at a service station. On returning to the car they found that they had a puncture in one of the front tyres and so the wheel had to be changed. This took about 45 minutes. Shortly after leaving the service station they were stopped by a police patrol car for exceeding the speed limit. It is also known that: The driver passed a breathalyser test. The delay caused by changing the wheel had made them late for the start of the football match. Three years earlier John had his driving licence suspended for 12 months for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sarah is a sales representative and has the use of a company car. It was raining heavily at the time the car was stopped. | John has previously been convicted of a speeding offence. | n |
id_3653 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | Not all of the assistants survived to see the publication of the Dictionary. | e |
id_3654 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | The growing importance of the middle classes led to an increased demand for dictionaries. | e |
id_3655 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | Johnson has become more well known since his death. | c |
id_3656 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | Johnson had been planning to write a dictionary for several years. | n |
id_3657 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | Johnson only received payment for his Dictionary on its completion. | c |
id_3658 | Johnson's Dictionary For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was published in 1775, there had been concern about the state of the English language. There was no standard way of speaking or writing and no agreement as to the best way of bringing some order to the chaos of English spelling. Dr Johnson provided the solution. There had, of course, been dictionaries in the past, the first of these being a little book of some 120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A Table Alphabeticall 'of hard usuall English wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came after it during the seventeenth century, Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' words; one function of the dictionary was to enable its student to convey an impression of fine learning. Beyond the practical need to make order out of chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with the rise of the English middle class, who were anxious to define and circumscribe the various worlds to conquer lexical as well as social and commercial. it is highly appropriate that Dr Samuel Johnson, the very model of an eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in his own time as in ours, should have published his Dictionary at the very beginning of the heyday of the middle class. Johnson was a poet and critic who raised common sense to the heights of genius. His approach to the problems that had worried writers throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was intensely practical. Up until his time, the task of producing a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed impossible without the establishment of an academy to make decisions about right and wrong usage. Johnson decided he did not need an academy to settle arguments about language; he would write a dictionary himself and he would do it single-handed. Johnson signed the contract for the Dictionary with the bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 June 1764. He was to be paid 1.575 in instalments, and from this he took money to rent Gough Square, in which he set up his 'dictionary workshop'. James Boswell, his biographer, described the garret where Johnson worked as 'fitted up like a counting house' with a long desk running down the middle at which the copying clerks would work standing up. Johnson himself was stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed books. He was also helped by six assistants, two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still in preparation. The work was immense; filling about eighty large notebooks (and without a library to hand), Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000 words, and illustrated their many meanings with some 114,000 quotations drawn from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect to achieve complete originality. Working to a deadline, he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries, and to make his work one of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much more. Unlike his predecessors, Johnson treated English very practically, as a living language, with many different shades of meaning. He adopted his definitions on the principle of English common law according to precedent. After its publication, his Dictionary was not seriously rivalled for over a century. After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was finally published on 15 April 1775. It was instantly recognised as a landmark throughout Europe. 'This very noble work, ' wrote the leading Italian lexicographer, 'will be a perpetual monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout Europe" The fact that Johnson had taken on the Academies of Europe and matched them (everyone knew that forty French academics had taken forty years to produce the first French national dictionary) was cause for much English celebration. Johnson had worked for nine years, 'with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow'. For all its faults and eccentricities his two-volume work is a masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, 'setting the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the significations of English words'. It is the cornerstone of Standard English an achievement which, in James Boswell's words 'conferred stability on the language of his country. ' The Dictionary, together with his other writing, made Johnson famous and so well esteemed that his friends were able to prevail upon King George III to offer him a pension. From then on, he was to become the Johnson of folklore. | Johnson set up an academy to help with the writing of his Dictionary. | c |
id_3659 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | Guests may use the pool, but they must pay 10 to do so. | n |
id_3660 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | You may dive, but only diving is allowed from the diving board. | n |
id_3661 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | Smoking at the pool is not permitted, unless authorized. | n |
id_3662 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | As a member, you are privileged and need not sign in before entering. | e |
id_3663 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | Bathers who wish to leave the pool can do so at any time before 6p. m. | e |
id_3664 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | You may use the lockers, and there is no charge for the lockers. | n |
id_3665 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | If you have wet clothes, they may be placed in the bin provided. | c |
id_3666 | Jubilee Swimming Club Regulations The Jubilee Swimming Club is maintained exclusively for the enjoyment of Bradford residents and any organised tournaments or activities need to be authorized by the Pool management. Members must show their registration cards at the registration desk. Persons without membership cards will not be able to use the pool. Guests must sign at the registration desk. Any guests entering the pool without having signed may be fined 10. Smoking is not allowed in the changing room. Clothes must be placed in the lockers provided. Keys are available at the registration desk. Used towels must be placed in the bins provided. All swimmers must shower before they enter the pool. Diving is only allowed from the diving board. Running and playing near the pool are not permitted. Children under twelve are not allowed to use the pool unless accompanied by an adult. All bathers must leave the pool by 6 p. m. Please respect the rights of all swimmers and at all times show the utmost courtesy to all swimmers. Repeated violations of conduct may result in eviction from the pool and its premises. | Twelve-year-olds are not allowed in the pool | c |
id_3667 | Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years and is five times the distance of Earth from the sun. It is a huge gaseous planet with a rocky core twice the size of Earth and has four principal moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These moons were first recorded by Galileo in 1609. The outer reaches of our solar system contain three giant gaseous planets, the others being Uranus and Neptune which both lie beyond Jupiter. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit while Neptune takes 165 years. These planets were visited by Voyager space probes between 1979 and 1989 and all were found to have distinctive rings, satellites (or moons) and experience enormous storms in their upper atmospheres identifiable as large white or coloured rotating spots, some of which last for months or even years. | In the passage we can conclude that the words huge, giant and moon, satellite are treated as synonyms. | c |
id_3668 | Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years and is five times the distance of Earth from the sun. It is a huge gaseous planet with a rocky core twice the size of Earth and has four principal moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These moons were first recorded by Galileo in 1609. The outer reaches of our solar system contain three giant gaseous planets, the others being Uranus and Neptune which both lie beyond Jupiter. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit while Neptune takes 165 years. These planets were visited by Voyager space probes between 1979 and 1989 and all were found to have distinctive rings, satellites (or moons) and experience enormous storms in their upper atmospheres identifiable as large white or coloured rotating spots, some of which last for months or even years. | Of the three gaseous planets Neptune is the furthest from the sun. | n |
id_3669 | Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years and is five times the distance of Earth from the sun. It is a huge gaseous planet with a rocky core twice the size of Earth and has four principal moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These moons were first recorded by Galileo in 1609. The outer reaches of our solar system contain three giant gaseous planets, the others being Uranus and Neptune which both lie beyond Jupiter. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit while Neptune takes 165 years. These planets were visited by Voyager space probes between 1979 and 1989 and all were found to have distinctive rings, satellites (or moons) and experience enormous storms in their upper atmospheres identifiable as large white or coloured rotating spots, some of which last for months or even years. | The huge gaseous planets of the outer reaches of our solar system have rocky cores. | n |
id_3670 | Kangaroo culling is a controversial issue in Australia, where the government has implemented culls to control populations. The issue is particularly emotive because of the kangaroos status as a national icon, with some detractors viewing the culls as an attack on Australias identity. Although indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are, in some areas, threatening the grassland ecosystem. Overgrazing causes soil erosion thus threatening the survival of certain rare species of lizard. Furthermore, in overpopulated areas, food scarcity is driving kangaroos to damage wheat crops. Protesters typically oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. Instead, they favour the relocation of kangaroos to suitable new habitats, or sterilizing the animals in overpopulated areas. Sterilization, however, will not have an immediate effect on the problems of limited resources and land degradation through grazing. Not only is transporting large numbers of kangaroos an expensive undertaking, critics believe it would potentially traumatize the relocated kangaroos and ultimately threaten the new habitat. | Sterilizing kangaroos will not immediately alleviate problems of their over- grazing. | e |
id_3671 | Kangaroo culling is a controversial issue in Australia, where the government has implemented culls to control populations. The issue is particularly emotive because of the kangaroos status as a national icon, with some detractors viewing the culls as an attack on Australias identity. Although indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are, in some areas, threatening the grassland ecosystem. Overgrazing causes soil erosion thus threatening the survival of certain rare species of lizard. Furthermore, in overpopulated areas, food scarcity is driving kangaroos to damage wheat crops. Protesters typically oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. Instead, they favour the relocation of kangaroos to suitable new habitats, or sterilizing the animals in overpopulated areas. Sterilization, however, will not have an immediate effect on the problems of limited resources and land degradation through grazing. Not only is transporting large numbers of kangaroos an expensive undertaking, critics believe it would potentially traumatize the relocated kangaroos and ultimately threaten the new habitat. | The majority of animal rights activists oppose the Australian governments policy of kangaroo culls. | n |
id_3672 | Kangaroo culling is a controversial issue in Australia, where the government has implemented culls to control populations. The issue is particularly emotive because of the kangaroos status as a national icon, with some detractors viewing the culls as an attack on Australias identity. Although indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are, in some areas, threatening the grassland ecosystem. Overgrazing causes soil erosion thus threatening the survival of certain rare species of lizard. Furthermore, in overpopulated areas, food scarcity is driving kangaroos to damage wheat crops. Protesters typically oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. Instead, they favour the relocation of kangaroos to suitable new habitats, or sterilizing the animals in overpopulated areas. Sterilization, however, will not have an immediate effect on the problems of limited resources and land degradation through grazing. Not only is transporting large numbers of kangaroos an expensive undertaking, critics believe it would potentially traumatize the relocated kangaroos and ultimately threaten the new habitat. | The foremost argument against culling kangaroos is that it threatens Australian national identity. | c |
id_3673 | Kangaroo culling is a controversial issue in Australia, where the government has implemented culls to control populations. The issue is particularly emotive because of the kangaroos status as a national icon, with some detractors viewing the culls as an attack on Australias identity. Although indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are, in some areas, threatening the grassland ecosystem. Overgrazing causes soil erosion thus threatening the survival of certain rare species of lizard. Furthermore, in overpopulated areas, food scarcity is driving kangaroos to damage wheat crops. Protesters typically oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. Instead, they favour the relocation of kangaroos to suitable new habitats, or sterilizing the animals in overpopulated areas. Sterilization, however, will not have an immediate effect on the problems of limited resources and land degradation through grazing. Not only is transporting large numbers of kangaroos an expensive undertaking, critics believe it would potentially traumatize the relocated kangaroos and ultimately threaten the new habitat. | Kangaroos present a threat to agriculture as well as to the ecosystem. | e |
id_3674 | Kangaroo culling is a controversial issue in Australia, where the government has implemented culls to control populations. The issue is particularly emotive because of the kangaroos status as a national icon, with some detractors viewing the culls as an attack on Australias identity. Although indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are, in some areas, threatening the grassland ecosystem. Overgrazing causes soil erosion thus threatening the survival of certain rare species of lizard. Furthermore, in overpopulated areas, food scarcity is driving kangaroos to damage wheat crops. Protesters typically oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. Instead, they favour the relocation of kangaroos to suitable new habitats, or sterilizing the animals in overpopulated areas. Sterilization, however, will not have an immediate effect on the problems of limited resources and land degradation through grazing. Not only is transporting large numbers of kangaroos an expensive undertaking, critics believe it would potentially traumatize the relocated kangaroos and ultimately threaten the new habitat. | In overpopulated areas where food is scarce, kangaroos are preying on rare lizards. | n |
id_3675 | Kartik left for Delhi on Tuesday by train to attend a function to be held on Friday at his uncles house in Delhi. | Kartik may reach Delhi on Wednesday. | n |
id_3676 | Kartik left for Delhi on Tuesday by train to attend a function to be held on Friday at his uncles house in Delhi. | Kartik may reach Delhi before Friday. | e |
id_3677 | Keep taking the tablets The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry. In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases. Its properties have been known for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer. Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer. But it wasnt until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation. The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically. At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co. succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin. The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer. One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars. But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates. In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution. This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality. In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the centurys broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough. The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one. Aspirin is continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic. In the 1070s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs. But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions. Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared. So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one. Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them. But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off certain products when something more attractive comes along. In the case of aspirin, a potential wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was. If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today. It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadnt bothered to explore. None of the recent discoveries of aspirins benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector. The reason for that is very simple and straightforward, Jeffreys says in his book. Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits. Theres no profit in aspirin any more. It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it. In fact, theres almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands. So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys. If I were the Department of Health. I would say this is a very inexpensive drug. There may be a lot of other things we could do with it. We should put a lot more money into trying to find out. Jeffreys book which not only tells the tale of a wonder drug but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important. | For nineteenth-century scientists, small-scale research was enough to make important discoveries. | e |
id_3678 | Keep taking the tablets The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry. In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases. Its properties have been known for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer. Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer. But it wasnt until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation. The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically. At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co. succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin. The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer. One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars. But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates. In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution. This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality. In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the centurys broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough. The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one. Aspirin is continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic. In the 1070s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs. But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions. Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared. So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one. Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them. But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off certain products when something more attractive comes along. In the case of aspirin, a potential wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was. If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today. It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadnt bothered to explore. None of the recent discoveries of aspirins benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector. The reason for that is very simple and straightforward, Jeffreys says in his book. Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits. Theres no profit in aspirin any more. It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it. In fact, theres almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands. So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys. If I were the Department of Health. I would say this is a very inexpensive drug. There may be a lot of other things we could do with it. We should put a lot more money into trying to find out. Jeffreys book which not only tells the tale of a wonder drug but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important. | The nineteenth-century industrial revolution caused a change in the focus of scientific research. | n |
id_3679 | Keep taking the tablets The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry. In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases. Its properties have been known for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer. Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer. But it wasnt until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation. The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically. At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co. succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin. The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer. One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars. But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates. In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution. This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality. In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the centurys broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough. The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one. Aspirin is continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic. In the 1070s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs. But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions. Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared. So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one. Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them. But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off certain products when something more attractive comes along. In the case of aspirin, a potential wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was. If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today. It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadnt bothered to explore. None of the recent discoveries of aspirins benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector. The reason for that is very simple and straightforward, Jeffreys says in his book. Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits. Theres no profit in aspirin any more. It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it. In fact, theres almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands. So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys. If I were the Department of Health. I would say this is a very inexpensive drug. There may be a lot of other things we could do with it. We should put a lot more money into trying to find out. Jeffreys book which not only tells the tale of a wonder drug but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important. | The development of aspirin in the nineteenth century followed a structured pattern of development. | c |
id_3680 | Keep taking the tablets The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry. In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases. Its properties have been known for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer. Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer. But it wasnt until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation. The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically. At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co. succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin. The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer. One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars. But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates. In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution. This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality. In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the centurys broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough. The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one. Aspirin is continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic. In the 1070s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs. But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions. Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared. So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one. Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them. But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off certain products when something more attractive comes along. In the case of aspirin, a potential wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was. If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today. It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadnt bothered to explore. None of the recent discoveries of aspirins benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector. The reason for that is very simple and straightforward, Jeffreys says in his book. Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits. Theres no profit in aspirin any more. It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it. In fact, theres almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands. So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys. If I were the Department of Health. I would say this is a very inexpensive drug. There may be a lot of other things we could do with it. We should put a lot more money into trying to find out. Jeffreys book which not only tells the tale of a wonder drug but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important. | In the 1970s sales of new analgesic drugs overtook sales of aspirin. | n |
id_3681 | Keep taking the tablets The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry. In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases. Its properties have been known for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer. Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer. But it wasnt until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation. The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically. At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co. succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin. The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer. One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars. But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates. In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution. This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality. In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the centurys broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough. The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one. Aspirin is continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic. In the 1070s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs. But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions. Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared. So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one. Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them. But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off certain products when something more attractive comes along. In the case of aspirin, a potential wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was. If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today. It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadnt bothered to explore. None of the recent discoveries of aspirins benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector. The reason for that is very simple and straightforward, Jeffreys says in his book. Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits. Theres no profit in aspirin any more. It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it. In fact, theres almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands. So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys. If I were the Department of Health. I would say this is a very inexpensive drug. There may be a lot of other things we could do with it. We should put a lot more money into trying to find out. Jeffreys book which not only tells the tale of a wonder drug but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important. | Commercial companies may have both good and bad effects on the availability of pharmaceutical products. | e |
id_3682 | Keep the Water Away Last winters floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dug city drains, however wide and straight they made the rivers, and however high they built the banks, the floods kept coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. Arid when the floods came, they seemed to be worse than ever. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the waters destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers. Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plains, the rivers flow farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link-and the water will unerringly find it. By trying to turn the complex hydrology of rivers into the simple mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised safety, and intensified the floods they meant to end. Take the Rhine, Europes most engineered river. For two centuries, German engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its flood plain. Today, the river has lost 7 percent of its original length and runs up to a third faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhines flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the worlds second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico. The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it wont stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just rivers, but the whole landscape. The UKs Environment Agency -which has been granted an extra 150 million a year to spend in the wake of floods in 2000 that cost the country 1 billion- puts it like this: The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walks are out, and new wetlands : are in. To help keep Londons feet dry, the agency is breaking the Thamess banks upstream and reflooding 10 square kilometres of ancient flood plain at Otmoor outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent 100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain to protect the town of Maidenhead, as well as the ancient playing fields of Eton College. And near the south coast, the agency is digging out channels to reconnect old meanders on the river Cuckmere in East Sussex that were cut off by flood banks 150 years ago. The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europes largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Drava as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia. Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers, says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of soft engineers wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is their shining example. Since reunification, the citys massive redevelopment has been governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: We now see rainwater as a resource to be kept rather than got rid of at great cost. A good illustration is the giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by Daimler Chrysler in the heart of the city. Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. The latest plan is to spend a cool $280 million raising the concrete walls on the Los Angeles river by another 2 metres. Yet many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city is shipping in water from hundreds of kilometres away in northern California and from the Colorado river in Arizona to fill its taps and swimming pools, and irrigate its green spaces. It all sounds like bad planning. In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water, says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist, along with citizen groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill the taps by holding onto the citys flood water. And its not just a pipe dream. The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the citys underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to drain cities and protect our watery margins -and how bad we are at it. | Flood makes river shorter than it used to be, which means faster speed and more damage to the constructions on flood plain. | e |
id_3683 | Keep the Water Away Last winters floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dug city drains, however wide and straight they made the rivers, and however high they built the banks, the floods kept coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. Arid when the floods came, they seemed to be worse than ever. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the waters destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers. Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plains, the rivers flow farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link-and the water will unerringly find it. By trying to turn the complex hydrology of rivers into the simple mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised safety, and intensified the floods they meant to end. Take the Rhine, Europes most engineered river. For two centuries, German engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its flood plain. Today, the river has lost 7 percent of its original length and runs up to a third faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhines flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the worlds second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico. The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it wont stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just rivers, but the whole landscape. The UKs Environment Agency -which has been granted an extra 150 million a year to spend in the wake of floods in 2000 that cost the country 1 billion- puts it like this: The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walks are out, and new wetlands : are in. To help keep Londons feet dry, the agency is breaking the Thamess banks upstream and reflooding 10 square kilometres of ancient flood plain at Otmoor outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent 100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain to protect the town of Maidenhead, as well as the ancient playing fields of Eton College. And near the south coast, the agency is digging out channels to reconnect old meanders on the river Cuckmere in East Sussex that were cut off by flood banks 150 years ago. The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europes largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Drava as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia. Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers, says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of soft engineers wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is their shining example. Since reunification, the citys massive redevelopment has been governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: We now see rainwater as a resource to be kept rather than got rid of at great cost. A good illustration is the giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by Daimler Chrysler in the heart of the city. Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. The latest plan is to spend a cool $280 million raising the concrete walls on the Los Angeles river by another 2 metres. Yet many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city is shipping in water from hundreds of kilometres away in northern California and from the Colorado river in Arizona to fill its taps and swimming pools, and irrigate its green spaces. It all sounds like bad planning. In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water, says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist, along with citizen groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill the taps by holding onto the citys flood water. And its not just a pipe dream. The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the citys underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to drain cities and protect our watery margins -and how bad we are at it. | In the ancient times, the people in Europe made their efforts to improve the river banks, so the flood was becoming less severe than before. | c |
id_3684 | Keep the Water Away Last winters floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dug city drains, however wide and straight they made the rivers, and however high they built the banks, the floods kept coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. Arid when the floods came, they seemed to be worse than ever. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the waters destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers. Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plains, the rivers flow farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link-and the water will unerringly find it. By trying to turn the complex hydrology of rivers into the simple mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised safety, and intensified the floods they meant to end. Take the Rhine, Europes most engineered river. For two centuries, German engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its flood plain. Today, the river has lost 7 percent of its original length and runs up to a third faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhines flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the worlds second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico. The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it wont stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just rivers, but the whole landscape. The UKs Environment Agency -which has been granted an extra 150 million a year to spend in the wake of floods in 2000 that cost the country 1 billion- puts it like this: The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walks are out, and new wetlands : are in. To help keep Londons feet dry, the agency is breaking the Thamess banks upstream and reflooding 10 square kilometres of ancient flood plain at Otmoor outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent 100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain to protect the town of Maidenhead, as well as the ancient playing fields of Eton College. And near the south coast, the agency is digging out channels to reconnect old meanders on the river Cuckmere in East Sussex that were cut off by flood banks 150 years ago. The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europes largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Drava as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia. Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers, says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of soft engineers wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is their shining example. Since reunification, the citys massive redevelopment has been governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: We now see rainwater as a resource to be kept rather than got rid of at great cost. A good illustration is the giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by Daimler Chrysler in the heart of the city. Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. The latest plan is to spend a cool $280 million raising the concrete walls on the Los Angeles river by another 2 metres. Yet many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city is shipping in water from hundreds of kilometres away in northern California and from the Colorado river in Arizona to fill its taps and swimming pools, and irrigate its green spaces. It all sounds like bad planning. In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water, says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist, along with citizen groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill the taps by holding onto the citys flood water. And its not just a pipe dream. The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the citys underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to drain cities and protect our watery margins -and how bad we are at it. | The new approach in the UK is better than that in Austria. | n |
id_3685 | Keep the Water Away Last winters floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dug city drains, however wide and straight they made the rivers, and however high they built the banks, the floods kept coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. Arid when the floods came, they seemed to be worse than ever. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the waters destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers. Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plains, the rivers flow farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link-and the water will unerringly find it. By trying to turn the complex hydrology of rivers into the simple mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised safety, and intensified the floods they meant to end. Take the Rhine, Europes most engineered river. For two centuries, German engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its flood plain. Today, the river has lost 7 percent of its original length and runs up to a third faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhines flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the worlds second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico. The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it wont stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just rivers, but the whole landscape. The UKs Environment Agency -which has been granted an extra 150 million a year to spend in the wake of floods in 2000 that cost the country 1 billion- puts it like this: The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walks are out, and new wetlands : are in. To help keep Londons feet dry, the agency is breaking the Thamess banks upstream and reflooding 10 square kilometres of ancient flood plain at Otmoor outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent 100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain to protect the town of Maidenhead, as well as the ancient playing fields of Eton College. And near the south coast, the agency is digging out channels to reconnect old meanders on the river Cuckmere in East Sussex that were cut off by flood banks 150 years ago. The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europes largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Drava as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia. Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers, says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of soft engineers wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is their shining example. Since reunification, the citys massive redevelopment has been governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: We now see rainwater as a resource to be kept rather than got rid of at great cost. A good illustration is the giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by Daimler Chrysler in the heart of the city. Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. The latest plan is to spend a cool $280 million raising the concrete walls on the Los Angeles river by another 2 metres. Yet many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city is shipping in water from hundreds of kilometres away in northern California and from the Colorado river in Arizona to fill its taps and swimming pools, and irrigate its green spaces. It all sounds like bad planning. In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water, says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist, along with citizen groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill the taps by holding onto the citys flood water. And its not just a pipe dream. The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the citys underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to drain cities and protect our watery margins -and how bad we are at it. | At least 300,000 people left from Netherlands in 1995. | c |
id_3686 | Khmer Rouge Tuol Svay Pray High School sits on a dusty road on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the high school S-21 and turned it into a torture, interrogation and execution center. Of the 14,000 people known to have entered, only seven survived. Not only did the Khmer Rouge carefully transcribe the prisoners' interrogations; they also carefully photographed the vast majority of the inmates and created an astonishing photographic archive. Each of the almost 6,000 S-21 portraits that have been recovered tells a story shock, resignation, confusion, defiance and horror. Although the most gruesome images to come out of Cambodia were those of the mass graves, the most haunting were the portraits taken by the Khmer Rouge at S-21. Today, S-21 Prison is known as the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. Inside the gates, it looks like any high school; five buildings face a grass courtyard with pull-up bars, green lawns and lawn-bowling pitches. The ground-floor classrooms in one building have been left to appear as they were in 1977. The spartan interrogation rooms are furnished with only a school desk-and-chair set that faces a steel bed frame with shackles at each end. On the far wall are the grisly photographs of bloated, decomposing bodies chained to bed frames with pools of wet blood underneath. These were the sights that greeted the two Vietnamese photojournalists who first discovered S-21 in January of 1979. In another building the walls are papered with thousands of S-21 portraits. At first glance, the photograph of a shirtless young man appears typical of the prison photos. Closer inspection reveals that the number tag on his chest has been safety pinned to his pectoral muscle. With a bruised face and a pad-locked chain around his neck, a boy stands with his arms at his sides and looks straight into the camera. A mother with her baby in her arms stares into the camera with a look of indignant resignation. The photographs and confessions were collected in order to prove to the Khmer Rouge leaders that their orders had been carried out | A man in one of the portraits has had a 5 digit number tag attached to his chest. | n |
id_3687 | Khmer Rouge Tuol Svay Pray High School sits on a dusty road on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the high school S-21 and turned it into a torture, interrogation and execution center. Of the 14,000 people known to have entered, only seven survived. Not only did the Khmer Rouge carefully transcribe the prisoners' interrogations; they also carefully photographed the vast majority of the inmates and created an astonishing photographic archive. Each of the almost 6,000 S-21 portraits that have been recovered tells a story shock, resignation, confusion, defiance and horror. Although the most gruesome images to come out of Cambodia were those of the mass graves, the most haunting were the portraits taken by the Khmer Rouge at S-21. Today, S-21 Prison is known as the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. Inside the gates, it looks like any high school; five buildings face a grass courtyard with pull-up bars, green lawns and lawn-bowling pitches. The ground-floor classrooms in one building have been left to appear as they were in 1977. The spartan interrogation rooms are furnished with only a school desk-and-chair set that faces a steel bed frame with shackles at each end. On the far wall are the grisly photographs of bloated, decomposing bodies chained to bed frames with pools of wet blood underneath. These were the sights that greeted the two Vietnamese photojournalists who first discovered S-21 in January of 1979. In another building the walls are papered with thousands of S-21 portraits. At first glance, the photograph of a shirtless young man appears typical of the prison photos. Closer inspection reveals that the number tag on his chest has been safety pinned to his pectoral muscle. With a bruised face and a pad-locked chain around his neck, a boy stands with his arms at his sides and looks straight into the camera. A mother with her baby in her arms stares into the camera with a look of indignant resignation. The photographs and confessions were collected in order to prove to the Khmer Rouge leaders that their orders had been carried out | The S-21 Prison is also a high school | c |
id_3688 | Khmer Rouge Tuol Svay Pray High School sits on a dusty road on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the high school S-21 and turned it into a torture, interrogation and execution center. Of the 14,000 people known to have entered, only seven survived. Not only did the Khmer Rouge carefully transcribe the prisoners' interrogations; they also carefully photographed the vast majority of the inmates and created an astonishing photographic archive. Each of the almost 6,000 S-21 portraits that have been recovered tells a story shock, resignation, confusion, defiance and horror. Although the most gruesome images to come out of Cambodia were those of the mass graves, the most haunting were the portraits taken by the Khmer Rouge at S-21. Today, S-21 Prison is known as the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. Inside the gates, it looks like any high school; five buildings face a grass courtyard with pull-up bars, green lawns and lawn-bowling pitches. The ground-floor classrooms in one building have been left to appear as they were in 1977. The spartan interrogation rooms are furnished with only a school desk-and-chair set that faces a steel bed frame with shackles at each end. On the far wall are the grisly photographs of bloated, decomposing bodies chained to bed frames with pools of wet blood underneath. These were the sights that greeted the two Vietnamese photojournalists who first discovered S-21 in January of 1979. In another building the walls are papered with thousands of S-21 portraits. At first glance, the photograph of a shirtless young man appears typical of the prison photos. Closer inspection reveals that the number tag on his chest has been safety pinned to his pectoral muscle. With a bruised face and a pad-locked chain around his neck, a boy stands with his arms at his sides and looks straight into the camera. A mother with her baby in her arms stares into the camera with a look of indignant resignation. The photographs and confessions were collected in order to prove to the Khmer Rouge leaders that their orders had been carried out | The Khmer Rouge contains mass graves. | e |
id_3689 | Kitchen Pollution in the Home. Scientist Brett Singer is a vegetarian. So why has he been frying up hamburgers? Singer and his team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) indoor air researchers have found hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in a surprisingly large portion of California home kitchens. What's more, their studies have shown that the most common device for mitigating this indoor air problem range hoods vary widely in performance. In a small nondescript building in a parking lot on the Berkeley Lab site, Singer's group has set up a test kitchen to conduct a battery of cooking trials. By frying up burgers and green beans with a variety of range hoods operating at different settings, the researchers are collecting important data on the impacts to air quality as well as developing a standard test for range hoods that could eventually allow consumers to evaluate and compare their effectiveness. In a study of southern California homes published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Singer's group found that a significant portion of residences exceed outdoor air quality standards for several pollutants on a weekly basis as a result of cooking with gas burners. If these were conditions that were outdoors the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would be cracking down. But since it's in people's homes, there's no regulation requiring anyone to fix it, Singer said. Reducing people's exposure to pollutants from gas stoves should be a public health priority. Berkeley Lab's team of indoor air quality researchers is the oldest and most comprehensive in the country and has contributed to many of the standards and building codes now in place for both homes and industrial buildings, such as schools and offices. In recent years, as more attention has been paid to making buildings more energy efficient which often means making them tighter, or less leaky, to reduce heating and cooling costs ventilation has become increasingly important. Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. A previous Berkeley Lab study found that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality of which cooking is the major but not sole source are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. In a recent study led by Logue, the team analyzed extensive data from several sources to understand how common it is for California homes to experience indoor air pollution at hazardous levels. They estimated that 60 percent of homes in the state that cook at least once a week with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors. That equates to 12 million Californians routinely exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed federal outdoor standards, 10 million exposed to formaldehyde exceeding federal standards and 1.7 million exposed to carbon monoxide exceeding ambient air standards in a typical week in winter. These pollutants can come both from the cooking burners especially gas burners but to a lesser extent electric burners also as well as from cooking itself. The primary health effect of nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in the fumes of any type of combustion, is an increased likelihood of respiratory problems. Exposure to carbon monoxide is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease as it can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. The indoor pollutant that scientists believe may be most harmful to human health is particles, including fine particles, which are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 1 micrometer. They are produced by both gas and electric burners and by cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs and, for the smaller particles, enter the bloodstream or other tissues. Electric burners produce ultrafine particles essentially by volatilizing dust, Singer explained. It's the same process with your toaster, resistance heater or radiator if you haven't used it for a while. After you turn it on, you can smell it . You're smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized. Once they're in the air, they recondense into these ultrafine particles. This is the chemistry lab in your kitchen. Singer recommends the use of range hoods while cooking. If every one of those homes were to use a range hood that exhausts to the outside and is even moderately effective, the number of homes exceeding the standards would drop by more than half, he said. Still, Singer's previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their capture efficiency, or effectiveness at removing pollutants. A laboratory study of seven models found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance. Another study of 15 range hoods installed in homes found that airflows often fell below advertised values and that less than half of the pollutants emitted by gas burners are removed in many instances. What's worse, there's no rating system that will tell consumers which products are better at removing pollutants. This is where the burgers come in. In the test kitchen Singer and his team are measuring the pollutants emitted by cooking foods at different temperatures and then evaluating how effective different range hoods used in different configurations are in capturing the pollutants. Delp is in charge of making sure that every burger and every batch of green beans is cooked in precisely the same way each time whether operating at low or high setting, whether on the front or back burner, repeated three times each. He is also making a simulated pie, which consists of a spoonful of corn syrup on a pan to simulate drippingsthe main source of emissions from the ovento gather the same data for baking. The aim of these experiments is to develop a reliable test methodology that manufacturers of range hoods can use to give a rating to their products. Currently, range hoods are rated only for energy efficiency and noise level but not for pollutant capture efficiency. The Berkeley Lab researchers are working toward an ASTM International test standard that manufacturers could voluntarily use to rate their products. Further down the road, Singer's team would like to see quieter hoods that come on automatically. The research involves finding a robust control algorithm for turning the fan on and off. We want systems that don't require people to turn things on, Singer said. When your water heater comes on, the exhaust gases go outside, and you don't have to flip a switch. It should be the same in the kitchen. | The price of range hoods determines their performance in removing pollutants. | c |
id_3690 | Kitchen Pollution in the Home. Scientist Brett Singer is a vegetarian. So why has he been frying up hamburgers? Singer and his team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) indoor air researchers have found hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in a surprisingly large portion of California home kitchens. What's more, their studies have shown that the most common device for mitigating this indoor air problem range hoods vary widely in performance. In a small nondescript building in a parking lot on the Berkeley Lab site, Singer's group has set up a test kitchen to conduct a battery of cooking trials. By frying up burgers and green beans with a variety of range hoods operating at different settings, the researchers are collecting important data on the impacts to air quality as well as developing a standard test for range hoods that could eventually allow consumers to evaluate and compare their effectiveness. In a study of southern California homes published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Singer's group found that a significant portion of residences exceed outdoor air quality standards for several pollutants on a weekly basis as a result of cooking with gas burners. If these were conditions that were outdoors the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would be cracking down. But since it's in people's homes, there's no regulation requiring anyone to fix it, Singer said. Reducing people's exposure to pollutants from gas stoves should be a public health priority. Berkeley Lab's team of indoor air quality researchers is the oldest and most comprehensive in the country and has contributed to many of the standards and building codes now in place for both homes and industrial buildings, such as schools and offices. In recent years, as more attention has been paid to making buildings more energy efficient which often means making them tighter, or less leaky, to reduce heating and cooling costs ventilation has become increasingly important. Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. A previous Berkeley Lab study found that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality of which cooking is the major but not sole source are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. In a recent study led by Logue, the team analyzed extensive data from several sources to understand how common it is for California homes to experience indoor air pollution at hazardous levels. They estimated that 60 percent of homes in the state that cook at least once a week with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors. That equates to 12 million Californians routinely exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed federal outdoor standards, 10 million exposed to formaldehyde exceeding federal standards and 1.7 million exposed to carbon monoxide exceeding ambient air standards in a typical week in winter. These pollutants can come both from the cooking burners especially gas burners but to a lesser extent electric burners also as well as from cooking itself. The primary health effect of nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in the fumes of any type of combustion, is an increased likelihood of respiratory problems. Exposure to carbon monoxide is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease as it can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. The indoor pollutant that scientists believe may be most harmful to human health is particles, including fine particles, which are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 1 micrometer. They are produced by both gas and electric burners and by cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs and, for the smaller particles, enter the bloodstream or other tissues. Electric burners produce ultrafine particles essentially by volatilizing dust, Singer explained. It's the same process with your toaster, resistance heater or radiator if you haven't used it for a while. After you turn it on, you can smell it . You're smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized. Once they're in the air, they recondense into these ultrafine particles. This is the chemistry lab in your kitchen. Singer recommends the use of range hoods while cooking. If every one of those homes were to use a range hood that exhausts to the outside and is even moderately effective, the number of homes exceeding the standards would drop by more than half, he said. Still, Singer's previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their capture efficiency, or effectiveness at removing pollutants. A laboratory study of seven models found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance. Another study of 15 range hoods installed in homes found that airflows often fell below advertised values and that less than half of the pollutants emitted by gas burners are removed in many instances. What's worse, there's no rating system that will tell consumers which products are better at removing pollutants. This is where the burgers come in. In the test kitchen Singer and his team are measuring the pollutants emitted by cooking foods at different temperatures and then evaluating how effective different range hoods used in different configurations are in capturing the pollutants. Delp is in charge of making sure that every burger and every batch of green beans is cooked in precisely the same way each time whether operating at low or high setting, whether on the front or back burner, repeated three times each. He is also making a simulated pie, which consists of a spoonful of corn syrup on a pan to simulate drippingsthe main source of emissions from the ovento gather the same data for baking. The aim of these experiments is to develop a reliable test methodology that manufacturers of range hoods can use to give a rating to their products. Currently, range hoods are rated only for energy efficiency and noise level but not for pollutant capture efficiency. The Berkeley Lab researchers are working toward an ASTM International test standard that manufacturers could voluntarily use to rate their products. Further down the road, Singer's team would like to see quieter hoods that come on automatically. The research involves finding a robust control algorithm for turning the fan on and off. We want systems that don't require people to turn things on, Singer said. When your water heater comes on, the exhaust gases go outside, and you don't have to flip a switch. It should be the same in the kitchen. | Producers of range hoods are considering whether to install a detailed rating system to their products. | n |
id_3691 | Kitchen Pollution in the Home. Scientist Brett Singer is a vegetarian. So why has he been frying up hamburgers? Singer and his team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) indoor air researchers have found hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in a surprisingly large portion of California home kitchens. What's more, their studies have shown that the most common device for mitigating this indoor air problem range hoods vary widely in performance. In a small nondescript building in a parking lot on the Berkeley Lab site, Singer's group has set up a test kitchen to conduct a battery of cooking trials. By frying up burgers and green beans with a variety of range hoods operating at different settings, the researchers are collecting important data on the impacts to air quality as well as developing a standard test for range hoods that could eventually allow consumers to evaluate and compare their effectiveness. In a study of southern California homes published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Singer's group found that a significant portion of residences exceed outdoor air quality standards for several pollutants on a weekly basis as a result of cooking with gas burners. If these were conditions that were outdoors the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would be cracking down. But since it's in people's homes, there's no regulation requiring anyone to fix it, Singer said. Reducing people's exposure to pollutants from gas stoves should be a public health priority. Berkeley Lab's team of indoor air quality researchers is the oldest and most comprehensive in the country and has contributed to many of the standards and building codes now in place for both homes and industrial buildings, such as schools and offices. In recent years, as more attention has been paid to making buildings more energy efficient which often means making them tighter, or less leaky, to reduce heating and cooling costs ventilation has become increasingly important. Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. A previous Berkeley Lab study found that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality of which cooking is the major but not sole source are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. In a recent study led by Logue, the team analyzed extensive data from several sources to understand how common it is for California homes to experience indoor air pollution at hazardous levels. They estimated that 60 percent of homes in the state that cook at least once a week with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors. That equates to 12 million Californians routinely exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed federal outdoor standards, 10 million exposed to formaldehyde exceeding federal standards and 1.7 million exposed to carbon monoxide exceeding ambient air standards in a typical week in winter. These pollutants can come both from the cooking burners especially gas burners but to a lesser extent electric burners also as well as from cooking itself. The primary health effect of nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in the fumes of any type of combustion, is an increased likelihood of respiratory problems. Exposure to carbon monoxide is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease as it can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. The indoor pollutant that scientists believe may be most harmful to human health is particles, including fine particles, which are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 1 micrometer. They are produced by both gas and electric burners and by cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs and, for the smaller particles, enter the bloodstream or other tissues. Electric burners produce ultrafine particles essentially by volatilizing dust, Singer explained. It's the same process with your toaster, resistance heater or radiator if you haven't used it for a while. After you turn it on, you can smell it . You're smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized. Once they're in the air, they recondense into these ultrafine particles. This is the chemistry lab in your kitchen. Singer recommends the use of range hoods while cooking. If every one of those homes were to use a range hood that exhausts to the outside and is even moderately effective, the number of homes exceeding the standards would drop by more than half, he said. Still, Singer's previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their capture efficiency, or effectiveness at removing pollutants. A laboratory study of seven models found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance. Another study of 15 range hoods installed in homes found that airflows often fell below advertised values and that less than half of the pollutants emitted by gas burners are removed in many instances. What's worse, there's no rating system that will tell consumers which products are better at removing pollutants. This is where the burgers come in. In the test kitchen Singer and his team are measuring the pollutants emitted by cooking foods at different temperatures and then evaluating how effective different range hoods used in different configurations are in capturing the pollutants. Delp is in charge of making sure that every burger and every batch of green beans is cooked in precisely the same way each time whether operating at low or high setting, whether on the front or back burner, repeated three times each. He is also making a simulated pie, which consists of a spoonful of corn syrup on a pan to simulate drippingsthe main source of emissions from the ovento gather the same data for baking. The aim of these experiments is to develop a reliable test methodology that manufacturers of range hoods can use to give a rating to their products. Currently, range hoods are rated only for energy efficiency and noise level but not for pollutant capture efficiency. The Berkeley Lab researchers are working toward an ASTM International test standard that manufacturers could voluntarily use to rate their products. Further down the road, Singer's team would like to see quieter hoods that come on automatically. The research involves finding a robust control algorithm for turning the fan on and off. We want systems that don't require people to turn things on, Singer said. When your water heater comes on, the exhaust gases go outside, and you don't have to flip a switch. It should be the same in the kitchen. | Ventilation has been an ignorable factor in controlling cooling costs. | c |
id_3692 | Kitchen Pollution in the Home. Scientist Brett Singer is a vegetarian. So why has he been frying up hamburgers? Singer and his team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) indoor air researchers have found hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in a surprisingly large portion of California home kitchens. What's more, their studies have shown that the most common device for mitigating this indoor air problem range hoods vary widely in performance. In a small nondescript building in a parking lot on the Berkeley Lab site, Singer's group has set up a test kitchen to conduct a battery of cooking trials. By frying up burgers and green beans with a variety of range hoods operating at different settings, the researchers are collecting important data on the impacts to air quality as well as developing a standard test for range hoods that could eventually allow consumers to evaluate and compare their effectiveness. In a study of southern California homes published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Singer's group found that a significant portion of residences exceed outdoor air quality standards for several pollutants on a weekly basis as a result of cooking with gas burners. If these were conditions that were outdoors the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would be cracking down. But since it's in people's homes, there's no regulation requiring anyone to fix it, Singer said. Reducing people's exposure to pollutants from gas stoves should be a public health priority. Berkeley Lab's team of indoor air quality researchers is the oldest and most comprehensive in the country and has contributed to many of the standards and building codes now in place for both homes and industrial buildings, such as schools and offices. In recent years, as more attention has been paid to making buildings more energy efficient which often means making them tighter, or less leaky, to reduce heating and cooling costs ventilation has become increasingly important. Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. A previous Berkeley Lab study found that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality of which cooking is the major but not sole source are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. In a recent study led by Logue, the team analyzed extensive data from several sources to understand how common it is for California homes to experience indoor air pollution at hazardous levels. They estimated that 60 percent of homes in the state that cook at least once a week with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors. That equates to 12 million Californians routinely exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed federal outdoor standards, 10 million exposed to formaldehyde exceeding federal standards and 1.7 million exposed to carbon monoxide exceeding ambient air standards in a typical week in winter. These pollutants can come both from the cooking burners especially gas burners but to a lesser extent electric burners also as well as from cooking itself. The primary health effect of nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in the fumes of any type of combustion, is an increased likelihood of respiratory problems. Exposure to carbon monoxide is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease as it can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. The indoor pollutant that scientists believe may be most harmful to human health is particles, including fine particles, which are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 1 micrometer. They are produced by both gas and electric burners and by cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs and, for the smaller particles, enter the bloodstream or other tissues. Electric burners produce ultrafine particles essentially by volatilizing dust, Singer explained. It's the same process with your toaster, resistance heater or radiator if you haven't used it for a while. After you turn it on, you can smell it . You're smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized. Once they're in the air, they recondense into these ultrafine particles. This is the chemistry lab in your kitchen. Singer recommends the use of range hoods while cooking. If every one of those homes were to use a range hood that exhausts to the outside and is even moderately effective, the number of homes exceeding the standards would drop by more than half, he said. Still, Singer's previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their capture efficiency, or effectiveness at removing pollutants. A laboratory study of seven models found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance. Another study of 15 range hoods installed in homes found that airflows often fell below advertised values and that less than half of the pollutants emitted by gas burners are removed in many instances. What's worse, there's no rating system that will tell consumers which products are better at removing pollutants. This is where the burgers come in. In the test kitchen Singer and his team are measuring the pollutants emitted by cooking foods at different temperatures and then evaluating how effective different range hoods used in different configurations are in capturing the pollutants. Delp is in charge of making sure that every burger and every batch of green beans is cooked in precisely the same way each time whether operating at low or high setting, whether on the front or back burner, repeated three times each. He is also making a simulated pie, which consists of a spoonful of corn syrup on a pan to simulate drippingsthe main source of emissions from the ovento gather the same data for baking. The aim of these experiments is to develop a reliable test methodology that manufacturers of range hoods can use to give a rating to their products. Currently, range hoods are rated only for energy efficiency and noise level but not for pollutant capture efficiency. The Berkeley Lab researchers are working toward an ASTM International test standard that manufacturers could voluntarily use to rate their products. Further down the road, Singer's team would like to see quieter hoods that come on automatically. The research involves finding a robust control algorithm for turning the fan on and off. We want systems that don't require people to turn things on, Singer said. When your water heater comes on, the exhaust gases go outside, and you don't have to flip a switch. It should be the same in the kitchen. | Gas burners play a less important role in pollutants emission than cooking. | c |
id_3693 | Kitchen Pollution in the Home. Scientist Brett Singer is a vegetarian. So why has he been frying up hamburgers? Singer and his team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) indoor air researchers have found hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in a surprisingly large portion of California home kitchens. What's more, their studies have shown that the most common device for mitigating this indoor air problem range hoods vary widely in performance. In a small nondescript building in a parking lot on the Berkeley Lab site, Singer's group has set up a test kitchen to conduct a battery of cooking trials. By frying up burgers and green beans with a variety of range hoods operating at different settings, the researchers are collecting important data on the impacts to air quality as well as developing a standard test for range hoods that could eventually allow consumers to evaluate and compare their effectiveness. In a study of southern California homes published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Singer's group found that a significant portion of residences exceed outdoor air quality standards for several pollutants on a weekly basis as a result of cooking with gas burners. If these were conditions that were outdoors the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would be cracking down. But since it's in people's homes, there's no regulation requiring anyone to fix it, Singer said. Reducing people's exposure to pollutants from gas stoves should be a public health priority. Berkeley Lab's team of indoor air quality researchers is the oldest and most comprehensive in the country and has contributed to many of the standards and building codes now in place for both homes and industrial buildings, such as schools and offices. In recent years, as more attention has been paid to making buildings more energy efficient which often means making them tighter, or less leaky, to reduce heating and cooling costs ventilation has become increasingly important. Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. A previous Berkeley Lab study found that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality of which cooking is the major but not sole source are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. In a recent study led by Logue, the team analyzed extensive data from several sources to understand how common it is for California homes to experience indoor air pollution at hazardous levels. They estimated that 60 percent of homes in the state that cook at least once a week with a gas stove can reach pollutant levels that would be illegal if found outdoors. That equates to 12 million Californians routinely exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed federal outdoor standards, 10 million exposed to formaldehyde exceeding federal standards and 1.7 million exposed to carbon monoxide exceeding ambient air standards in a typical week in winter. These pollutants can come both from the cooking burners especially gas burners but to a lesser extent electric burners also as well as from cooking itself. The primary health effect of nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in the fumes of any type of combustion, is an increased likelihood of respiratory problems. Exposure to carbon monoxide is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease as it can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. The indoor pollutant that scientists believe may be most harmful to human health is particles, including fine particles, which are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 1 micrometer. They are produced by both gas and electric burners and by cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs and, for the smaller particles, enter the bloodstream or other tissues. Electric burners produce ultrafine particles essentially by volatilizing dust, Singer explained. It's the same process with your toaster, resistance heater or radiator if you haven't used it for a while. After you turn it on, you can smell it . You're smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized. Once they're in the air, they recondense into these ultrafine particles. This is the chemistry lab in your kitchen. Singer recommends the use of range hoods while cooking. If every one of those homes were to use a range hood that exhausts to the outside and is even moderately effective, the number of homes exceeding the standards would drop by more than half, he said. Still, Singer's previous studies have found that range hoods vary widely in their capture efficiency, or effectiveness at removing pollutants. A laboratory study of seven models found that a higher price did not guarantee better performance. Another study of 15 range hoods installed in homes found that airflows often fell below advertised values and that less than half of the pollutants emitted by gas burners are removed in many instances. What's worse, there's no rating system that will tell consumers which products are better at removing pollutants. This is where the burgers come in. In the test kitchen Singer and his team are measuring the pollutants emitted by cooking foods at different temperatures and then evaluating how effective different range hoods used in different configurations are in capturing the pollutants. Delp is in charge of making sure that every burger and every batch of green beans is cooked in precisely the same way each time whether operating at low or high setting, whether on the front or back burner, repeated three times each. He is also making a simulated pie, which consists of a spoonful of corn syrup on a pan to simulate drippingsthe main source of emissions from the ovento gather the same data for baking. The aim of these experiments is to develop a reliable test methodology that manufacturers of range hoods can use to give a rating to their products. Currently, range hoods are rated only for energy efficiency and noise level but not for pollutant capture efficiency. The Berkeley Lab researchers are working toward an ASTM International test standard that manufacturers could voluntarily use to rate their products. Further down the road, Singer's team would like to see quieter hoods that come on automatically. The research involves finding a robust control algorithm for turning the fan on and off. We want systems that don't require people to turn things on, Singer said. When your water heater comes on, the exhaust gases go outside, and you don't have to flip a switch. It should be the same in the kitchen. | Particles can do harm to human health by attacking people's lungs, bloodstream or other tissues. | e |
id_3694 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | Koalas will fight each other when food becomes scarce. | n |
id_3695 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | New coming human settlers caused danger to koalas. | e |
id_3696 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | It takes decades for the eucalyptus trees to recover after the fire. | c |
id_3697 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | It is not easy to notice that koalas are ill. | e |
id_3698 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | Koalas are easily infected with human contagious disease via cuddling. | n |
id_3699 | Koala. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be 'under threat'. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala's only food source, the eucalyptus tree, has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retrovirus. And every year 11,000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1,000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala's delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1,250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose-digesting bacteria in the caecum break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man's arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn't. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death's door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo's koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London's Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London's koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours. Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas. The marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo. | Koalas can still be seen in most of the places in Australia. | c |
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