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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Croydon Airport

Croydon Airport is in south London on the borders of the London Boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was once the main airport for London, before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport.
It originated as two adjacent World War I airfields. Beddington Aerodrome, one of a number of small airfields around London which had been formed for protection against the Zeppelin raids in about May 1915, and Waddon Aerodrome of 1918, a test-flight aerodrome adjoining National Aircraft Factory No1.
At the end of that war, the two airfields were joint into London's official airport as the gateway for all international flights to and from the capital. Croydon Aerodrome opened on 29 March 1920.
It stimulated a increase in regular scheduled flights carrying passengers, mail and freight, the first destinations being Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In 1923 Berlin flights were added. It was the operating base for Imperial Airways - remembered in the road name Imperial Way on the site today.
In the mid 1920s, the airfield was extended, some adjacent roads being permanently closed to allow heavier airliners to land and depart safely. A new complex of buildings was constructed adjoining Purley Way, including the first purpose-designed air terminal in the world, the Aerodrome Hotel and extensive hangars, all opening on 2 May 1928.
The terminal building, the booking hall inside it with its gallery balustraded in the geometrical design typical of the period, and the Aerodrome hotel were all built in the Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s. A further item that caught the eye of visitor and traveller alike was the time zone tower in the booking hall with its dials depicting the times in different parts of the world.
The aerodrome was known the world over, its fame being spread by the many aviators and pioneers who touched down at Croydon.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Atomic clock

An atomic clock is a type of clock so as to uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its counter. Early atomic clocks were masers by means of attached equipment. Today's best atomic frequency standards (or clocks) are based on more advanced physics involving cold atoms and atomic fountains. National standards agencies maintain an accuracy of 10-9 seconds per day, and a precision equal to the frequency of the radio transmitter pumping the maser. The clocks keep up a continuous and stable time scale, International Atomic Time (TAI). For civil time, another time scale is disseminated, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is derived from TAI, but coordinated with the passing of day and night based on astronomical observations.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Flower anatomy

Flowering plants are heterosporangiate (producing two types of reproductive spores) and the pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are created in different organs, but these are jointly in a bisporangiate strobilus that is the typical flower.
A flower is regarded as a customized stem with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes, structures that may be very modified leaves. In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate). The stem is called a pedicel, the end of which is the torus or receptacle. The parts of a flower are set in whorls on the torus. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follows:
Poppycalyx – the outer whorl of sepals; typically these are green, but are petal-like in some species.
corolla – the whorl of petals, which are usually thin, soft and colored to attract insects that help the process of pollination.
androecium– one or two whorls of stamens, each a filament topped by an anther where pollen is produced. Pollen contains the male gametes.
gynoecium– one or more pistils. The female reproductive organ is the carpel: this contains an ovary with ovules (female gametes). A pistil may consist of a number of carpels merged together, in which case there is only one pistil to each flower, or of a single individual carpel (the flower is then called apocarpous). The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen. The supportive stalk, the style becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma, to the ovules, carrying the reproductive material.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Brown Pelican

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis †) is the smallest (42"-54") member of the pelican family.
It lives severely on coasts from Washington and Cape Cod to the mouth of the Amazon River. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move further north along the coasts in flocks, frequent to warmer waters for winter.
This bird is illustrious from the American White Pelican by its brown body and its habit of diving for fish from the air, as opposite to cooperative fishing from the surface. It dines mostly on herring-like fish. Groups of these birds often travel in single file, flying low over the water's surface.
The nest location varies from a easy scrape on the ground on an island to a bulky stick nest in a low tree. These birds nest in colonies, usually on islands.
Pesticides like DDT and dieldrin threatened its prospect in the southwest United States and California in the early 1970s. Pesticides also threatened the pelican population in Florida in this time period. A study group from the University of Tampa headed up by Dr. Ralph Schreiber conducted research in the Tampa Bay/St Petersburg area and found that DDT caused the pelican eggshells to be overly-thin and incapable of supporting the embryo to maturity. As a result of this research, DDT usage was eliminated in Florida and the rest of the country.
There are four subspecies:
Pelecanus occidentalis californicus (California brown pelican)
Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis
Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis Linnaeus,
Pelecanus occidentalis thagus
It is the state bird of Louisiana.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. Outside of Japan, it generally refers specifically to comics initially published in Japan. As of 2007, manga represents a multi-billion dollar global market.Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and foreign styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. It comes primarily in black and white, except for the covers and sometimes the first few pages; in some Animanga (Anime printed in Manga style) all the pages are colored.
Popular manga are frequently adapted into anime (Japanese for animation) once a market interest has been established (Manga is sometimes mistakenly called "anime" by those not familiar with the term). Adapted stories are often modified to appeal to a more mainstream market. Although not as general, original anime is sometimes adapted into manga (such as the Gundam franchise, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and Tenchi Muyo).

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Air pollution

Air pollution is a chemical, physical (e.g. particulate matter), or biological agent that modifies the normal characteristics of the atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been known as a threat to human health as well as to the earth's ecosystems.
Worldwide air pollution is in charge for large numbers of deaths and cases of respiratory disease. Enforced air quality standards, like the Clean Air Act in the United States, have reduced the occurrence of some pollutants. While major stationary sources are often identified with air pollution, the greatest source of emissions are in fact mobile sources, principally the automobile. Gases such as carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming, have newly gained recognition as pollutants.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Chili fruit

The fruit is eaten cooked or raw for its fiery hot flavour which is concerted along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has glands which create the capsaicin, which then flows down through the pod. The white pith, that surrounds the seeds, contains the highest concentrations of capsaicin. Removing the seeds and inner membranes is thus effectual at reducing the heat of a pod.
Chile powder is a spice made of the dried ground chilies, generally of the Mexican chile ancho variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat, while chili powder is composed of dried ground chili peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano. The bottled hot sauce Tabasco sauce is made from Tabasco chilies, similar to cayenne, which may also be fermented. Chipotles are dry, smoked red (ripe) jalapeños.
Indian cooking has multiple uses for chilies, from snacks like bajji where the chilies are dipped in batter and fried to the infamously hot vindaloo. Chilies are also dried and roasted and salted for later use as a side dish for rice varieties like vadam (a kind of pappad). In Turkish or Ottoman cuisine, chilies are commonly used where it is known as Kırmızı Biber (Red Pepper) or Acı Biber (Hot Pepper). Sambal is dropping sauce made from chili peppers with many other ingredients such as garlic, onion, shallots, salt, vinegar and sugar, which is very popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.