Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

House of Hapsburg

2007-12-26T22:50:51Z

CaesarNero:

The '''Habsburg''' ruling family was a powerful ruling dynasty throughout [[Europe]], especially in [[Austria]] where it ruled from 1278 to 1918. This family served as Holy Roman Emperors for several centuries (until 1806), and as Kings of [[Croatia]], [[Hungary]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], and [[Bohemia]]. They installed Maximillian as the Emperor of [[Mexico]] from 1864 to 1867 (the Mexicans shot him).

==Origins and Rise to Power in Austria==

The name "Habsburg" is derived from Habichtsburg Castle, over which the Habsburg line originally held control. This castle was sited in present-day [[Switzerland]]. The Habsburgs came to power in Austria after the [[Babenberg]] dynasty lost control over that duchy and [[King Ottokar]] of Bohemia, who then conquered it, died.

[[Category:European History]]

Metternich

2007-12-26T21:12:24Z

CaesarNero: Redirecting to Klemens von Metternich

#Redirect [[Klemens von Metternich]]

Fin whale

2007-12-26T21:09:55Z

CaesarNero: New page: {{Taxonomy |name=Balaenoptera physalus |image= |caption= |superkingdom=Eukaryota |kingdom=Animalia |subkingdom= |superphylum= |phylum= Chordata |subphylum= |infraphylum= |microphylum= |sup...

{{Taxonomy
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The fin whale is the second largest [[whale]] species and second largest [[animal]] species. Like the [[blue whale]], it is a species of [[baleen whale]]. The fin whale has a more slender body shape than other [[rorqual]]s. On average, males of the species are approximately 60 feet in length and their female counterparts are about 65 feet long. Large specimens have been known to reach nearly 90 full feet in length.

[[category:Cetaceans]]

Narwhal

2007-12-26T20:56:22Z

CaesarNero: more specific category

{{Taxonomy
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|image=05MSEL012 narwhals breachHR.jpg
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The '''narwhal''' (''Monodon monoceros'', "one tooth, one horn") is a medium-sized Arctic whale notable for having a spiral tusk projecting from it's snout. Narwhals have a black and white mottled skin pattern, the coloration of which resembled that of a drowned sailor, contributing to their Old Norse-language name of "nar" (“corpse”) and "hval" (“whale”).

==Gestation==
Male narwhals can reach a length of 5 meters and weigh up to 1,800 kg. Females are somewhat smaller, reaching a length of 4 meters and 1,000 kg. Narwhals reach sexual maturity between 6-9 years, and females give birth to a calf every third year, on average. The gestation period is about 14 months and they give birth in spring (April-May).

==Habits==
Narwhals have predictable migration patterns and are creatures of habit. Even though they spend a large amount of time offshore far from humans, they still move along the coast, and pass certain promontories, bays or fjords at precisely the same time each year. Today, in northwest Greenland, large pods of narwhals arrive every summer and are hunted by Inuit hunters in kayaks with hand-held harpoons.

In summer, narwhals often dive to depths between 30 and 300 meters, although they spend most of their time between 0 and 50 meters. In fall, dive depths and durations increase when narwhals migrate towards their wintering grounds. However, they are traveling rapidly during this period and do not do much focused diving. When narwhals are on their wintering grounds, they stay in a fairly limited area for 6 months and make small movements with the shifting leads and cracks in the pack ice. The proportion of shallow dives dramatically declines, and thus begins some of the deepest diving ever recorded for a marine mammal. Narwhals typically dive to at least 800 meters between 18 and 25 times per day every day for 6 months. Many of these dives go even deeper than 800 meters: over half reach at least 1,500 meters (4,500 feet). Dives to these depths last around 25 minutes, including the time spent at the bottom and the transit down and back from the surface. In addition to making remarkably deep dives, narwhals also spend a large amount of their time below 800 meters (>3 hours per day). This is an incredible amount of time at a depth where the pressure can exceed 2200 PSI (150 atmospheres) and life exists in complete darkness.

Narwhals travel to depths where there is intense pressure and no oxygen, which requires special adaptations for survival. The pressure problem is in part solved by having a compressible rib cage which is flexible and can be squeezed as the water depth increases. Narwhals also need mechanisms for bringing along as much oxygen as they can from the surface for their 25 minute long dives. They have a few solutions. Narwhals have a high concentration of myoglobin in their muscles (a molecule which binds oxygen). They have twice as much myoglobin as some seal species and eight times as much as terrestrial mammals, even those specialized in fast running. An average-size narwhal can carry 70 L of oxygen in its lungs, blood, and muscles. This meets oxygen demands for more than 20 minutes underwater at swim speeds of 1 m/s. Furthermore, the narwhal does not have fast-twitch fibers in its skeletal muscles (like a dolphin) but instead has muscles that are suited for endurance swimming (less oxygen demanding). During its dive, a narwhal can save oxygen by shutting off blood flow to selected organs or non-critical body parts. Finally, narwhals have streamlined bodies and can glide easily through the water column towards the bottom. This helps minimize oxygen consumption to work the muscles and ultimately saves energy.

==Diet==
Identifying what narwhals eat has proven to be a difficult task. Narwhals prefer waters far offshore covered in sea ice where they eat at great depths in complete darkness. Because of this, no direct observations of narwhal feeding have ever been made. An alternate method is to examine prey items in the stomachs of dead whales. Narwhals are harvested by local people throughout much of their range and in all seasons, therefore it is possible to collect the entire stomach (sometimes over 35 kg) from narwhals, freeze them, and send them to a laboratory for examination.

Narwhals eat only a few prey species. Their primary prey include the Greenland halibut, the polar and Arctic cod, shrimp and Gonatus squid. Occasional exceptions have been wolffish, capelin, skate eggs and sometimes rocks, accidentally ingested when whales feed near the bottom. Very few other prey items have been found in narwhal stomachs, implying that narwhals have a very restricted and specialized diet. The size of narwhal prey vary. Greenland halibut eaten by narwhals range from 35-55 cm in length and weigh between 200-1400 grams. Squid eaten by narwhals are much smaller and weigh on average 23 grams.

Narwhals change their diet seasonally. In winter, they feed intensively on Greenland halibut or Gonatus squid. The many deep dives in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait also indicate the narwhals feed intensively on the bottom. The summer ice-free season (between July and September) is not used for intense feeding and whales have very little in their stomachs.

The narwhal’s pattern of intense feeding in winter is the opposite of other sub-arctic whale species. This sheds insight into their specialization necessary for occupying arctic seas. Large baleen whales, such as fin, blue and humpback whales, undertake a northward migration to arctic waters in summer where they feed intensively and obtain their food requirements for the whole year. These species then migrate south for winter and hardly feed at all for the rest of the year. This is when the narwhal arrived on the scene, to feed in winter. The narwhal’s intense winter feeding period is likely an adaptation to relatively low productivity in the high arctic summering areas or perhaps a behavioral trait to avoid competition with lower latitude whales feeding in summer.

==Tusk==
The narwhal is an odontocete or toothed whale, but is different from all other toothed whales in that it has no teeth in its mouth. Instead the male bears a long straight tooth (or tusk) that protrudes 2-3 m out of the upper left jaw, and grows in a counterclockwise spiral. Tusks exported from the Arctic, perhaps by the Vikings, reached Europe, the Mediterranean, and even the Far East as early as the Middle Ages, and were sold without a good description of the animal from which they came; among the explanations as to the source was the mythical [[unicorn]]. The purpose of having such a huge tooth has been discussed for centuries, with many believing narwhals use their tusk to dig in the seafloor, spear prey, engaging in battles with each other to control females, or for making breathing holes in sea ice. Females almost never have a tusk, and the tusk cannot serve a critical function for individuals’ survival, as females live longer than males and occur in the same areas as the males.

Once the subject of mythical accounts of magical power, the helix-shaped tusk of the narwhal has proved to be an extraordinary sensory organ, according to a team of researchers from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Paffenbarger Research Center of the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The team's results were presented Dec. 13 at a technical conference in San Diego.

Measuring up to 2.7 meters or about 9 feet long, the tusk is traversed by up to 10 million nerve pathways. These pathways connect the outside of the tusk to a central core of nerves leading to the animal’s brain. Based on experiments with samples of the tusk as well as with a captured narwhal whale, the research team found that the tusk’s sensory system may be capable of detecting changes in temperature, pressure, salinity and other factors that may help a narwhal survive its Arctic environment.

Working at NIST, Naomi Eidelman, Anthony Giuseppetti and Frederick Eichmiller of the ADAF examined samples of narwhal tusk with both infrared microspectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Their work revealed the tusk’s unusual structure.

While most mammalian teeth are softer on the inside and harder on the outside, narwhal tusk appears to be made “inside out,” says Eichmiller. The researchers believe the softer outer layers of the tusk may act like a shock absorber to help prevent breaks. [http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2005_1222.htm]

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06arctic/background/biology/biology.html]}}}.
|}

[[Category:Cetaceans]]

Right whale

2007-12-26T20:55:27Z

CaesarNero: more specific category

{{Taxonomy
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The '''right whale''' received its name from whalers who thought that it was the "right" whale to kill because it was correct commercially ([[oil]] came from whales in those days). They were easy targets. Right whales swim slowly and float when dead, which was important in those days. The exploitation of the right whale began in the Bay of Biscay in Spain by the 12th century and continued, especially in the North Atlantic, for many centuries. Despite being protected since the 1930s, the right whale is today the most endangered of all the great whales.

==Physical Description==
The right whale is a large, bulky [[baleen]] whale of unusual appearance. Its upper and lower jaws are highly curved, allowing its long baleen plates to be enclosed while swimming. Its rostrum (upper jaw) is narrow and is often covered by "callosities," hardened patches of skin that occur in the facial area.

Right whales are black all over except for the belly, where there is often a white patch. Wounds and scars may appear bright orange because they become infested with whale lice, or cyamids. The callosities, which are also found near the blowholes, above the eyes, and on the chin and upper lip, are black or gray but appear white because of cyamid coverage.

The right whale has no dorsal (upper) fin or ridge. Its flippers are large and paddle-shaped, and its flukes are very wide, with a deep notch in the center.

Adult right whales are generally 35-55 feet (10.7-16.8 m) long. The largest individuals known have measured 60 feet (18.3 m) long and weighed 117 tons (106,500 kg). Females are larger than males.

==Feeding==
This whale's diet is less varied than that of many other baleen whales. They feed on planktonic organisms including shrimp-like krill and copepods, particularly copepods in the genus Calanus. As baleen whales, they have a series of 225-250 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, where teeth might otherwise be located. These plates are made of a fingernail-like material called keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends and inside the mouth near to the tongue. The plates are black, with a maximum length of 7.2 feet (2.2 m). Right whales are "grazers of the sea," often swimming slowly with their mouths open. As water flows into the mouth and through the baleen, prey are trapped on the inside near the tongue to be swallowed.

==Mating and Breeding==
Males reach sexual maturity at 35-40 feet, and the age at which these lengths are achieved is not known. Females reach sexual maturity at 40-45 feet, as early as five years of age. The young right whale stays with its mother for 1 year. Right whales are commonly found alone or in small groups of 1-3 animals, but they may form groups of up to 30 whales for social, possibly courtship, behavior. In such groups there is much rolling and thrashing; actual mating has been observed several times. Much of their social behavior, however, is not for reproductive purposes; birthing is highly seasonal, but courtship takes place at all times of the year.

==Distribution and Migration==
Right whales are found worldwide but in very small numbers. Like most baleen whales, they are seasonally migratory. They inhabit colder waters for feeding, then migrate to warmer waters for breeding and calving. Although they may move far out to sea during their feeding seasons, right whales give birth in coastal areas. Interestingly, many of the females do not return to these coastal breeding areas every year, but visit the area only in calving years. Where they go in other years remains a mystery.

==Natural History==
Right whales are among the slowest swimming whales, although they may reach speeds up to 10 mph in short spurts. They can dive to at least 1,000 ft. and can stay submerged up to 40 minutes. Since 1969, a population of right whales has been studied off the coast of Argentina by Dr.Roger Payne. He has used the pattern of right whale callosities to identify individual animals: he found that each animal has callosities of different shapes and sizes. Comparing photographs of the animals makes it possible to know which whale is being observed. Because of their coastal habitat, the whales can commonly be observed from the beach or nearby clifftops. Similar research programs also occur in other parts of the Southern Hemisphere and in the North Atlantic. Right whales can live for at least 70 years.

==Ecological Status==
The right whale is extremely endangered, even after years of protected status. Best population estimates are 300 -350 in the North Atlantic, perhaps less than 100 in the eastern North Pacific and an unknown (but small) number in the western North Pacific, and 3,000-4,000 in the Southern Hemisphere. Full protection was granted in 1931, but despite over 50 years of protection, recovery has been questionable. Only in the past 15 years is there evidence of a population recovery in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is still not known if the right whale will survive at all in the Northern Hemisphere. Although not presently hunted, current conservation problems include collisions with ships, conflicts with fishing activities, habitat destruction, oil drilling, and possible competition from other whale species.

==References==
1. http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/RightWhale.htm
2. http://www.omplace.com/omsites/discover/RIGHT/rightg.html

[[Category:Cetaceans]]

Babylon

2007-12-05T21:45:23Z

CaesarNero: grammatical error

'''Babylon''' was the main city of ancient [[Mesopotamia]]. [[Hammurabi]] was Babylonia's greatest ruler during roughly 1800-1750BC.

The region between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates was the center of the [[Sumerian]] civilization before 3500 BC. The Sumerians built cities and irrigated their land. They had a legal system and even a form of postal service. They developed a form of writing called [[cuneiform]], based on wedge-shaped symbols made by pressing a stylus into tablets of wet clay, and a system of counting using base 60.

The Babylonians invaded Mesopotamia and defeated and replaced the Sumerian culture around 2000 BC, establishing their capital at Babylon around 1900BC. They adopted many Sumerian customs, such as cuneiform writing and mathematics using base 60.

==The Hanging Gardens of Babylon==

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon weren't hanging at all but an inexact translation of the Greek word ''kremastos'' or the Latin word ''pensilis'', which mean not just "hanging", but "overhanging" as in the case of a terrace or balcony. So if the gardens existed (and there is no irrefutable archaeological evidence that they did) they were terraces.

The gardens are described by [[Greek]] historians including Berossus and Diodorus Siculus, who apparently never saw them, but there are no Babylonian records of them, even on tablets from the time of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], although there are tablets describing his palace, the city and the walls. [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (604-562 BC) is supposed to have built the hanging gardens to please his wife, who had been brought up in a mountainous country and missed the scenery in the flat lands by the Euphrates.<ref>The Chronicle of Sargon, II, 15f</ref> The legend may have been spread by the soldiers of [[Alexander the Great]], who were impressed by the fertility and beauty of [[Mesopotamia]], and told stories about gardens and the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, [[the tower of Babel]] and [[ziggurats]]. These may have got mixed together and garbled to produce the fabled Hanging Gardens.

There is no conclusive [[archeology|archeological]] evidence. One of the problems is that one of the suggested sites, where there are some vaulted ruins that correspond to some descriptions of the foundations of the gardens, is too far from the river to have been efficiently irrigated - which would have been essential to maintain gardens on such a scale in a dry country. Recently, excavations have uncovered walls up to 25m thick in the area between the river and the palace (a logical place for the gardens) that may have been terraced, but this would be on a smaller scale than the Greek writers suggest. However, since one Greek historian suggested that the walls of Babylon were 50 miles long and 320 feet high, while archaeological evidence suggests they were 10 miles long and considerably lower, it seems we cannot rely on the Greeks as an accurate source of evidence.

==Babylonian counting==

Today we count in base ten, but the Babylonians counted in base 60. This may sound cumbersome but there is an intriguing explanation of how this might have worked. The prevalent theory is that Babylonians counted the bones of each finger on one hand using the thumb on the same hand as a pointer. Doing this, you start at the top of your little finger and count down the bones 1...2...3.. then move on to the next finger 4....5....6.. then the next 7....8...9 and finally the index finger 10...11...12. Having got to 12 you count this off as one '12' on the other hand and go back to the beginning. You do this five times, with twelve bones per time, meaning you can count to 60 on two hands without having to write anything down. You could also count each '12' on each finger bone of the spare hand, allowing you to count to 144 easily.

This old Babylonian numbering system is likely to be the reason why we still have unusual base systems for things like time (hours, minutes and seconds), 24 hours in the day, the old Imperial measurement system etc. The beauty of this system is that numbers which are multiples of 12 (such as 24, 60, and 144) are all also divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6, whereas 10 is only divisible by 2 and 5 - so it's easier to count halves, quarters and thirds in a base 12 system. <ref> http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html </ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Babylon| ]]
[[Category:Biblical places]]

Ottoman-Babylon Theory

2007-12-05T21:44:00Z

CaesarNero: New page: The '''Ottoman-Babylon Theory''' is the theory set forth by some prominent modern Christian theologists that the "Babylon" of the Book of Revelations in the Bible is th...

The '''Ottoman-Babylon Theory''' is the theory set forth by some prominent modern [[Christian]] [[theologist]]s that the "[[Babylon]]" of the Book of [[Revelations]] in the [[Bible]] is the former [[Ottoman Empire]]. This, they claim, is supported by several facts:

(1) the Ottoman Empire persecuted Christians within its borders

(2) the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the Christian world

(3) one of the final battles against the Ottoman Empire was at [[Megiddo]]

Detractors of the theory point out that it does not correspond with other events of the Apocalypse of St. John.

Saw

2007-12-05T01:05:56Z

CaesarNero: Added some types of saws; please expand list

The saw is a hand tool, usually used to cut things, most often wood, but also other materials, including metals. It is a worthy tool.

The saw consists of a (often wooden) handle, attached to a metal sheet shaped specially for the task. The sheet is angled, and features the key component of the saw: serrated teeth. It is the teeth which do the cutting.

Types of saws include:

*[[Circular saw]]

*[[Chainsaw]]

*[[Jigsaw]]

Power drill

2007-12-05T01:00:59Z

CaesarNero:

A Power Drill is the modern equivalent of one of mankind's most worthy tools.

== History ==
Drills were said to be used as early as ancient Egypt, but the first Power Drill was invented by an Australian man, Mr. Arthur James Arnot1.

== Manufacturers of Power Drills ==

The most famous Power Drill company is arguably Black and Becker. These drills became very popular, owing to their convenience.

== Advantages of Power Drills over Standard Drills ==

The patented Black&Decker trigger-grip handle on most power drills makes for ease of drilling. This is significantly more efficient than 'winding' the old style drills. It also means the drill can be operated by one hand, although for safety it is often reccomended tonot use the hand for other tasks whilst drilling - the spare hand can be used to position and guide the drill.

== References ==
1. [[Article about Arthur James Arnot]] http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P003116b.htm