Friday, 22 September 2017

Facts About The Ho People in India

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The Ho are a tribal people who, along with their close neighbors the Munda, inhabit the Chota Nagpur plateau of southern Bihar state, India. They speak the Mundari language and number about 1.14 million (2000 est.).


The Ho consider themselves the aboriginal inhabitants of present-day Singhbhum, the southernmost district of Bihar. Some Ho are still forest dwellers, relying partly on hunting and gathering for subsistence; most, however, cultivate rice, cereals, and legumes.

The Ho have also become increasingly involved in the local cash economy, working as laborers in factories and mines. Their traditional religion involves spirit worship and divination.

In the 19th century the Ho fought fiercely for their freedom from British control. They resisted incursions in Singhbhum by Hindu and Muslim settlers as well. This resistance resulted in the establishment of a protected area for them, in which outsiders were legally excluded from obtaining land.

Partly because of the existence of this area, the Ho have been able to retain some of their cultural autonomy, although major changes have occurred under the impact of Christianity and industrialization.

Facts About Orissa on the Bay of Bengal

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Orissa is a state in eastern India located on the Bay of Bengal. It has an area of 155,707 km2 (60,119 mi2) and a population of 41,947,358 (2011 prov.). The capital is Bhubaneswar; Cuttack is the largest city, and Puri is an important center of Hindu pilgrimage. The temple of Konarak is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Most of Orissa is hilly except for a narrow, fertile coastal plain. The Eastern Ghats in the south are an important source of timber. In the north are valuable deposits of iron, manganese, coal, and mica. The state is chiefly agricultural, with rice, sugarcane, tobacco, and jute its main crops. Manufactures include iron and steel, aluminum, textiles, glass, and paper.

Orissa was a center of the Kalinga kingdom as early as the 4th century B.C.. As the Kalinga's power declined, Orissa became the seat of Hindu dynasties. In 1568 it was invaded by the Afghans, but it soon passed under Mogul control. The British conquered Orissa in 1803. Following Indian independence, Orissa's area was increased, and it became a constituent state of India in 1950.

In October 1999 the state was hit by one of its worst natural disasters ever, a cyclone that is estimated to have killed as many as 20,000 people and left another 10 million homeless or without their livelihoods. Officials said that economic development had been set back by about 20 years due to the destruction of infrastructure.

In 2000 a severe drought reduced crop yields and caused drinking-water shortages. The following summer severe flooding affected millions of people in Orissa, blocking deliveries of emergency food and medical supplies, destroying crops, and contaminating sources of drinking water.

Naga People, Who Are They? | Naga Facts

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Naga is the name given a number of tribes occupying the Naga hills on the borders of India and Burma (now Myanmar). These tribes speak related Tibeto-Burman languages (see Sino-Tibetan languages); their populations totaled nearly 1.5 million in the 1990s.


The traditional economy of the Naga depended on shifting cultivation, although a few groups also practiced irrigated rice cultivation on hill terraces. The Naga trace descent in the male line, and relations between various lineages were traditionally ordered in terms of complex rules concerning marriage. Alongside such marital relations, feuds also existed between lineages and often involved the practice of head-hunting.

Between 1865 and 1880 the Naga hills were taken over by the British, and practices such as head-hunting were banned. Since then the traditional culture of the Naga has been in decline, and most of the Naga have converted to Christianity, particularly to the Baptist church.

In recent years the Naga have been involved in various attempts to gain independence from Indian rule, and a series of military uprisings have occurred. In response to these pressures, the Indian government established the state of Nagaland in 1963.

Demands for the creation of an independent Naga nation continued, however, and talks between the Indian government and the main separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), have made little progress.

In 2003, after Burmese soldiers destroyed the headquarters of a breakaway NSCN group in the Patkai mountains, India sealed the border between Myanmar and the states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to prevent the rebels from entering India.

Naga in northern Manipur state have frequently resorted to violence in their quest for the integration into Nagaland of four districts inhabited mostly by Naga tribes; their demands have been rejected by the federal government.

Thursday, 21 September 2017

Escalators: Facts and History

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Escalators are another way to move people from one level of a building to another. An escalator is essentially a set of moving stairs. Each step is connected to the next step by two heavy roller chains. These chains drive the steps in an up-and-down direction. Each step has axles with rollers on each end. The rollers rest on metal tracks inside a steel frame called a truss. The truss rests between two floors like a steeply slanted ladder.


The steps lie flat at each end of the escalator to make it easier for passengers to get on and off. As the steps travel up or down the escalator, they automatically rise so that they look like staircase steps. Near the end of the ride, the steps automatically flatten out again.

Hidden under the floor at the top end of the escalator is a set of sprockets. A sprocket is a wheel with projecting teeth, like the gear wheel of a bicycle. The teeth of the sprocket catch the links of the roller chain and drive it round and round, pulling the steps along their rails. The sprocket at the top end of the escalator is driven by an electric motor beneath the floor. The chains run over pulleys at the bottom. These pulleys steer the chains properly and keep them tight.

At each side of the moving steps is a protective wall called a balustrade. On top of the balustrade is a continuous handrail, made of a moving belt of rubber. It moves along with the steps, at the same speed and in the same direction. Handrails help passengers enter, ride, and exit the escalator.

The first escalator was patented in the United States in 1859, but no one used this invention commercially. However, a number of inventors developed escalators after 1890. At first escalators were crude and unsafe by today's standards. Most of them were not successful.

In 1892 a patent was granted to Jesse W. Reno (1862–1947) for an "inclined elevator." A rider on Reno's escalator needed good balance. The flat-surfaced moving platform transported people upward at a 30-degree angle. Passengers needed to lean forward like skiers racing uphill. Because the handrail did not move, passengers had to keep moving their hands as they were carried up. Moving handrails and other safety features were added later.

In 1899 an inventor who worked with the Otis Elevator Company built the first step-type escalator. He also coined the term "escalator," which is a combination of the Latin word scala, meaning "steps," and elevator.

Today's escalators all travel at about 100 feet (30 meters) per minute. The fastest escalators ever built ran at 180 feet (55 meters) per minute, slightly more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) per hour and slightly slower than an average walking pace. The world's highest escalator lifts passengers to a height of about 200 feet (60 meters), roughly equal to the height of a 20-story building. This escalator operates at a station of the Moscow Metropolitan Railway in Russia.

Visitors to Hong Kong's Ocean Park can ride the longest outdoor escalator system in the world -750 feet (230 meters). The shortest escalator -a mere five steps- is tucked away in a private garden in Saudi Arabia. Spiral, or helical, escalators are a design breakthrough now being used in imaginative and elegant buildings.

Moving sidewalks are another way to move many people in public places such as airports, railroad terminals, and shopping centers. A moving sidewalk is basically a collapsed escalator where the flattened step treads move as a level or slightly inclined surface.

Elevator: Safety Device, Improvements, and Designs

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Safety Devices


Today the typical elevator has a safety system made up of the following components: a speed-sensing device known as a governor; a clamping device, or safety, mounted under each end of the car frame that, when activated, grips the guide rail; a tension sheave (pulley) at the shaft bottom, or pit; and a steel governor (safety) rope.


The governor rope makes a complete loop around the governor sheave and the tension sheave in the pit. Because the rope is fastened to and travels with the car, the governor sheave rotates at a speed corresponding to the speed of the car.

If the hoist ropes break or the car overspeeds, the governor activates a device that grips the governor rope. The pull of the governor rope triggers the safeties, which apply clamping force to the guide rails and bring the car to a safe stop.

Safety devices are also built into elevator doors. When the doors open, the car is prevented from moving away from the landing. However, the car will keep itself level as the load changes due to passengers entering or leaving the elevator.

A "safety shoe" mounted on the doors will prevent the doors from closing on passengers or objects in the doorway. The safety shoe will gently strike the object, retract, and cause the doors to reopen. Another safety feature is a light-ray device, which is often used along with safety shoes. This device causes a door reversal whenever the light ray is broken by a passenger entering or leaving the car.

All elevators are equipped with alarm buttons in case of an emergency. Many also have telephones that passengers can use to call for assistance.

Controlling the Elevator


In the 1950's, automatic elevators began to replace people known as elevator operators. Today microprocessors control many elevator functions, including speed and energy consumption. Today's elevators include braille buttons and voice announcements of stops. Both features are helpful to those who have vision problems.

Under development are systems that respond to and can predict how and when people will be moving within a building. These systems assign elevator cars to destinations before actual demand and reduce passenger waiting times. Elevators of the future will be equipped with laser devices that scan a floor to "see" if passengers are waiting there. If so, the elevator will stop for them; if not, it will continue on.

Elevator Improvements and Designs

 


The increasing height of skyscrapers has led architects and engineers to design elevators that are faster and more efficient. If an elevator stopped on every floor of a 100-story building, it would take a very long time to reach the top. Thus, most skyscrapers designed today have sky lobbies -floors where people switch from express elevators to local elevators.

Express elevators provide fast, nonstop service from the ground floor to the sky lobbies. Once at a sky lobby, passengers take local elevators to their desired floors. This decreases the amount of time people spend waiting for and riding the elevators.

The Petronas Towers, the world's second tallest buildings, located in Malaysia, are 88 stories high. Each tower has a sky lobby on the 41st floor. With this design, the elevators take up only half the floor space that would be necessary for the same number of elevators running from the ground floor to the top floor.

Double-deck elevators are another way to move people efficiently in tall buildings. New York's Citicorp Tower has 20 double-deck elevators. The double-deck elevator consists of two elevator cabs, one on top of the other in a single car frame. The lower cab serves only odd-numbered floors, beginning at the ground, or first, floor. The upper cab serves only even-numbered floors. A double-deck elevator can handle twice as many passengers as an ordinary elevator.

Some elevators are enclosed by glass; called observation elevators, they enable passengers to enjoy the view as they ride. Glass-enclosed elevators are found in many hotels, malls, and landmarks, such as the Seattle Space Needle and the Eiffel Tower.

How Elevators and Escalators Work

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There are three major types of elevators: gearless traction, geared traction, and hydraulic. The closed passenger car of a modern elevator rests inside a strong steel frame. The car and frame of an electric traction elevator are lifted and lowered within the elevator shaft by a large electric motor. Guide shoes or rollers on the car frame keep the car in place on the guide rails. Steel cables, or hoist ropes, are attached at one end to the top of the elevator car. They pass over a grooved drive sheave (pulley), which is connected to the electric motor.


The hoist ropes are attached at the other end to a heavy weight called a counterweight. The counterweight slides up and down the elevator shaft on its own guide rails in the opposite direction of the elevator car. Because of this counterweight, which balances the full weight of the car and about half of its passenger load, the electric motor does not have to lift the full load of the car.

Gearless and geared traction elevators differ in the speed at which they travel and the amount of weight they can carry. Gearless traction elevators travel at speeds of 400 to 2,000 feet (120 to 610 meters) per minute and are used in buildings more than ten stories high. Geared traction elevators are slower than gearless traction elevators, usually traveling at speeds of 25 to 450 feet (7.5 to 105 meters) per minute. However, geared traction elevators can carry heavier loads -30,000 pounds (13,500 kilograms) or more.

Hydraulic elevators are used extensively in buildings of five stories or fewer. With speeds rarely exceeding 150 feet (45 meters) per minute, the advantage of the hydraulic elevator is that it does not need any overhead hoisting machinery. The elevator is mounted on a piston that is inside a cylinder extending into the ground to a depth equal to the height the elevator will rise. An electric pump forces oil into the cylinder, causing the elevator to rise. Valves release the oil when the elevator is to descend. Another form of hydraulic elevator is the "holeless" model. A plunger slides up and down on the side of the elevator, and no hole is required beneath the standard shaftway space.

A Brief History of the Elevators and Escalators

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For centuries people have been thinking of ways to move heavy loads to higher places. As far back as 236 B.C., Archimedes developed a weight-lifting device operated by ropes and pulleys. Before him the Egyptians used hoists to build the Pyramids, the largest of which stands over 500 feet (150 meters) tall and has many building blocks weighing more than 200,000 pounds (90,000 kilograms) each. However, none of these early efforts were considered safe for lifting people because of one major flaw -when the hoisting rope broke, the lift fell.


It was not until 1852 that Elisha Graves Otis (1811–61) built a "safe" elevator. It was designed with a safety brake to prevent the hoist platform from falling even if the cable or rope holding it broke. A cable break caused springloaded bars on the elevator to snap out and hook onto the toothed guiderails in the elevator shaft. This locked the platform securely in place and prevented it from falling.

Otis successfully demonstrated his invention at the 1854 World's Fair in New York City. With safety guaranteed, people were willing to ride in elevators. The safe passenger elevator was an important step in the development of tall, multistory buildings. First known as cloudscrapers, and later called skyscrapers, these buildings would forever change the appearance of cities.

In 1857, Otis installed the world's first passenger elevator in a five-story New York City building. At that time, electric power was not widely available. Since few buildings had a source of power, Otis adapted a steam engine to power his elevators. The first electrically driven elevator was installed in a New York City building in 1889.

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

The Four Kings of the Herodians

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The Herodians were a family dynasty of rulers of Palestine and nearby areas in the Middle East. They ruled (r.) from the first century B.C. through the first century A.D. 



Herod I (the Great) (73–4 B.C.) (r. 37–4 B.C.), king of Judea, came to power through Roman influence, notably that of Mark Antony. He remained unswervingly loyal to Rome. Obsessively concerned with his personal security, he murdered those who seemed to threaten his position or of whom he was jealous, among them one of his wives and two of his own sons. An absolute ruler, he destroyed the power of the Sanhedrin (the supreme council and tribunal of the Jews). He favored Greek culture and carried out extensive building projects, notably in Jerusalem, where he rebuilt King Solomon's legendary temple. 

Herod Antipas (21 B.C.–A.D. 39) (r. 4 B.C.–A.D. 39) was a son of Herod the Great. He ruled over Galilee and a portion of Transjordan. He married his brother's wife. This was forbidden by scripture and was denounced by John the Baptist, whom Herod had put to death. When the prophet Jesus Christ came to trial in Herod's jurisdiction, Herod refused to pass judgment on him. He returned Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. Herod was later exiled amid rumors that he was preparing for war against Rome with the help of the Parthians. 

Herod Agrippa I (10? B.C.–A.D. 44) (r. A.D. 41–44) was a grandson of Herod the Great. He fell heavily in debt and was imprisoned by the Roman emperor Tiberius. He was later freed by the emperor Caligula, who appointed him administrator of Batanea and Galilee in A.D. 37 and king of Judea in A.D. 41. A leading king in the east, he influenced the selection of Claudius as emperor in A.D. 41. Herod was closely associated with the Pharisees (members of a strict sect of Judaism). He was a scrupulous observer of Jewish laws. He died suddenly, possibly poisoned by Romans who resented his popularity. 

Herod Agrippa II (A.D. 27?–93?) (r. A.D. 50–75), son of Herod Agrippa I, was the last king of Judea. In 66 he tried to persuade the Jews not to revolt against the Romans, and he supported Rome when they did. As a reward for his loyalty, the Romans enlarged his kingdom, Khalkís (Chalcis), centered in southern Lebanon.

Facts About Small-Spotted Catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula)

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This beautiful, small shark is no danger to humans. In the past its skin was dried and used as sandpaper. But the skin is not as rough as that of most sharks. This shark is sometimes called a "dogfish" for its habit of hunting for food in "packs," as wild dogs do.


Basic Facts


Class: rays, sharks, and relatives

Order: ground sharks

Family: catsharks

Length: up to 39 inches

Diet: mollusks, crustaceans, worms, and small fish

Method of Reproduction: egg layer

Home: eastern Atlantic Ocean

The small-spotted catshark is one of the best-known European sharks. It prefers to live along the sandy bottom of coastal waters. Near the British Isles, small-spotted catsharks are caught commercially and eaten either fresh or salted. They are also processed to make shark oil and fish meal.

Small-spotted catsharks often gather in separate-sex groups. The female schools travel to their spawning grounds in early winter. The males join them in early spring. Then, in summer, the sharks form pairs and move into deep waters to mate. Some kinds of sharks give birth to live young, and others produce eggs. The small-spotted catshark is an egg layer. The female has two egg tubes and lays one egg at a time -from one tube and then from the other. Most eggs are laid between November and July.

The egg of the small-spotted catshark emerges in a hard, nearly transparent case covered with long threads. The threads tangle around seaweed in shallow water. Anchored in place, the egg continues to develop for 5 to 11 months. Most small-spotted catsharks hatch after 8 or 9 months.

Get to Know the Small Munsterlander Dogs

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The small munsterlander is a medium-sized working gun dog breed developed in northern Germany. Generally, it was used by the common people to hunt a variety of game birds and small animals. The breed nearly became extinct before it was reestablished in its native land in the late 19th century; it is still rare in the United States.


The small munsterlander is a versatile, intelligent, active, loyal, and elegant breed that is able to hunt, point, and retrieve. Its excellent sense of smell makes the breed useful in search and rescue and in the detection of contraband.

The legs of the small munsterlander are well feathered, and the dense, medium-length body coat may be straight or slightly wavy; it is water repellent. The coat color is usually brown and white, often with darker brown or tan markings or ticking. The small munsterlander generally weighs between 17.2 and 26.3 kg (38 and 58 lb).

Known as the kleiner munsterlander or spion in its native Germany and as the heidewachtel in the Netherlands, it is recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale. In the United States the breed was first registered with the United Kennel Club; it was admitted to the Foundation Stock Service of the American Kennel Club as the small munsterlander pointer in 2006. There is also a large munsterlander, or grosser munsterland; like its smaller relation, it is a versatile gun dog.