Why dimpled or unsmooth balls used in golf game?

The reason why golf balls have dimples is a story of natural selection. Dimples maximize the distance golf balls travel. Dimpled balls travel up to four times farther than smooth-surfaced golf balls.

In the early days of golf, smooth-surfaced balls were used until golfers discovered that old, bumpy balls traveled longer distances. The science of aerodynamics

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Who is known as the 'Pumpkin King of Britain'?

Ralph Upton of the village of Slindon, in West Sussex, south England, was known as the ‘Pumpkin King of Britain’. This market gardener died earlier this year, at 88, and his son Robin Upton took over. The Uptons have been growing pumpkins on their six-acre plot for over 40 years, producing over 50 varieties. Slindon is known as the pumpkin capital of Britain.

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What is Big Crunch theory?

This theory says the universe will one day stop expanding. Then, as gravity pulls on matter, the universe will begin to contract, falling inward until it has collapsed into a super-hot, super-dense singularity. The universe is like a giant souffle. It starts out small, expands as it heats up, and eventually, as the souffle cools, begins to collapse. Big Crunch is the consequence

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What is carbon dating?

Carbon dating or radiocarbon dating is a method to determine the age of plants and fossils or is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Carbon has three naturally occurring isotopes,

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What is peep culture?

Pop culture, with television and radio as entertainment, has evolved into peep culture, with reality TV and internet. Entertainment is all about going through people’s private lives on blogs and social networking sites. These are tell-all, show-all times. Peep culture is a vent for social isolation, ironically, a result of an

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What do nanomites mean?

Nanomites are nanosized particles, nanorobots or nanites, which when released into the bloodstream of a human kill infected or cancerous cells.
The precision and minute size of these particles make them useful in medical science. However, it's still a concept

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What is the significance of 65 in the dish 'Chicken65'?

Chicken65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish popular as a bar snack, entree or quick snack. There exist a number of theories behind the number '65'. One is that '65' represents the year 1965 in which it was introduced by a famous hotel in Chennai. Another is that the number 65 is said to be the number of days

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Why is a feature film so called?

The term evolved from the days when the cinema-goer would watch a series of short subjects before the main film. The term 'feature' was an inheritance of the Vaudeville programme. When the feature film was first marketed, it meant a special film, that could be featured between advertising shorts. A feature film was one

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What is Fleet Street in London known for?

London's Fleet Street, named after the river Fleet which flows at one end of the street, had many legal offices and courts surrounding it in the late 15th century. From 1500s onwards, several publishing and printing shops began locating themselves on Fleet Street to serve the legal offices in its neighbourhood. From 1702, when

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What is the R V Park concept?

R V Park stands for Recreational Vehicle Park. Such parks have facilities for parking of vehicles used by a tourists, at a nominal fee. Thus, the tourists can travel, cook, eat and sleep in the specially-designed road vehicles, eliminating the need for hotels and restaurants. This makes tourism very economical. Such parks are

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Why is liquid ammonia used in ice plants?

Liquid ammonia acts as a refrigerant in ice plants. Evaporation of a liquid needs heat energy. When liquid ammonia vapourizes, it absorbs large quantities of heat without changing its temperature. For these reasons, ammonia is widely used as a refrigerant. About 17 g of liquid ammonia absorbs 5,700 calories of heat from the

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Why is calcium sulphate hemihydrates called Plaster of Paris?

Plaster of Paris is obtained by heating gypsum or calcium sulphate dihydrate to about 140-180 degree Celsius. When heated to such a temperature, gypsum forms Plaster of Paris. The name is derived from the large deposits of gypsum in the Montmartre hill in Paris.

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What is 'cyclotron'?

What is 'cyclotron'?

The cyclotron, developed by Lawrence and Livingston in 1932, is a machine that accelerates charged particles like protons, so that they can be used in atom-smashing experiments. Because the principles of this accelerator are involved in the cyclic motion of charged atomic particles in a uniform magnetic field, the device is called cyclotron.

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What is a carrotmob?

What is a carrotmob?

A carrotmob is an event where environmentalists queue up to buy goods from a shop which goes green. This is a sort of incentive for their intentions. The concept uses the carrot and stick method, hence 'carrot mob'. Environmentalists mob a 'green' store for mass purchases as a reward. This is planned in advance and executed as an event.

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What is cliff diving?

Cliff diving is the act of diving from a high cliff into a river, lake or ocean below the cliff. It has been practised as an unorganized activity both for recreation and other purposes. It is an organized sport, with large-scale competitions held in several places of the world. Cliff diving is classified as an extreme sport because of the inherent dangers.

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How does a mobile tracker work?

Mobile phone tracking relies on the use of triangulation -taking signal strengths registered from the mobile phone at a minimum of three nearby GSM receiver masts. As the mobile phone companies know the position of each mast, and can tell the signal strength of your phone at each of these nearby masts, they can use this to calculate the position to a certain degree of accuracy, within about 50-100 meters.

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What is a cryosurgery?

It is the technique of using extreme rapid cooling to freeze tissues, thereby destroy them. Rapid cooling to temperature below freezing point produces irreversible cell damage and cell death occurs at -20 to -90 degree Celsius. Freezing produces white areas of necrosis. It is applied in the treatment of malignancies, vascular tumours and aggressive tumours.


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The future of farmers lies in big cities

When the Doha global trade negotiations collapsed in July, many countries shared the blame. But one of the more surprising culprits was India.

With inflation over 12 % for some commodities, removing agricultural trade barriers would surely have helped get cheaper food to India’s millions of poor citizens, says an article by Salil Tripathi

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What is ambergis?

Ambergis is a solid, waxy material produced in the sperm whale and in the pygmy sperm whale. Ambergis is formed in the rectum of the whale by indigestible objects from animals on which it feeds (like beaks of squid and cuttlefish). The ambergris is usually released when the whale dies. When released, it is pale white and soft with a strong smell quite like cow manure. Over time and exposure to the elements, ambergis oxidizes, becomes darker in colour and loses its unpleasant odour. It is used in the manufacture of perfume. Ambergis is found in lumps, ranging from 15 gm to 400 kg.

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What is an aMap?

An aMap (argument map) is a visual representation of the structure of an argument in informal logic. It includes the components of an argument such as a main contention, premises, co-premises, objections, rebuttals and lemmas. Argument maps are often used in the teaching of reasoning and critical thinking and can support the analysis of pros and cons when deliberating over problems. This approach in argument mapping seeks to enable research and analysis of natural human decision making in real life contexts of risk and uncertainty. The techniques involved were first presented by Facione and Facione in ‘Thinking and Reasoning in Human Decision Making: The Method of Argument and Heuristic Analysis’.

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How are deemed universities different from others?

Ordinary universities are officially approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India as per the latter’s guidelines for the universities’ overall supervision and administration. ‘Deemed university’ is a term indicative of status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes and departments of various universities. Such status enables deemed universities not only full autonomy in setting course work, syllabus and research centres, but also allows it to set it’s own guidelines for admission, fee and instructions to students. Parent universities have no control over deemed universities in matters of overall administration.

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What is contact scraping?

Social networking has brought about a new trend called contact scraping, where an online company with access to a person’s mail account goes through the contact list and sends out an invitation to all to join the site. Once a person enters his/her credentials, like user name or password, the company sweeps through the contact list. The company gets free publicity and widens its user base, but could put the person concerned in an embarrassing and annoying situation, especially when there are friendly mails from strangers in return.

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Why is sea water very high in salt content?

The average salinity of sea water is about 3.5%. One cubic mile of sea water contains 166 million tonne of salt. The salts of the sea come from the breaking up of rocks and gradual wearing away of mountains releasing salts that are washed down by rainwater. It is estimated that more than 400 million tonne of dissolved salts are brought to the sea every year by 27,000 cubic km of water. The second source of salt is rocks beneath the ocean bed. There has been a constant slow addition of sea salinity due to evaporation from the ocean surface, combined by discharge from land.

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What is a chemical bond?

A chemical bond is one in which atoms of different or same elements combine to become stable. There are two types of chemical bonds — electro-valent bond and co-valent bond. In an electro-valent bond, a metal donates an electron to a non-metal and forms the bond. Such bonds are very strong. A co-valent bond is formed between non-metals only. These are easy to break.

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Is rain water completely pure?

Rain water is considered the purest form of water. Impurities and salts present in water on earth are left behind during vaporisation by the sun. However, the rain water we receive on earth is not necessarily pure, as it brings down impurities and particles present in the atmosphere along with it.

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What is 'The Magic of Scheherazade'?

The Magic of Scheherazade is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released by Culture Brain in 1989. It is the translation of the 1987 Famicom game Arabian Dream Scheherazade. The game was innovative for its time, incorporating elements of adventure and RPG styles.

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What is an electron gun?

It is a device in the back of a "cathode ray tube" television or computer monitor (pre-plasma or LCD flat-panel). The electron gun fires a stream of electrons from the back of the TV onto the inside face of the screen, which is coated with a material that glows when hit by electrons. By using powerful magnets to direct the stream across the screen, a series of dots ('pixels') is built over the screen which appears as an image.

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Why does steel glow when it's hot?

Hot steel glows red when hot because its atoms vibrate with a lot of energy. The amount of energy varies in atoms resulting in a range of colours.

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Michael Jackson-one of pop music's biggest stars died

Michael Jackson, one of pop music's biggest stars, have died in Los Angeles, aged 50. Paramedics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home at about midday on Thursday and was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital as he stopped breathing.

He was pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre. Jackson's brother, Jermaine, said he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest. The TMZ website reported later he had died. There was no official confirmation of the reported death, and spokesmen for Jackson could not be reached for comment.Jackson, who had a history of health problems, had been due to stage a series of comeback concerts in the UK on 13 July.

Here are some key facts about Jackson.

EARLY LIFE: Jackson was born on Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. Five Jackson boys -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael -- first performed together at a talent show when Michael was 6. They walked off with first prize.

Their group later became The Jackson Five, and when it was signed by Motown Records in the late 1960s it underwent its final metamorphosis to become The Jackson 5. Jackson made his first solo album in 1972.SUCCESS: Jackson released "Thriller" in 1982, which became a smash hit that yielded seven top-ten singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.

The next year, he unveiled his signature "moonwalk" dance move while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.

Jackson's lifetime record sales tally is believed to be about 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he has received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.

BIGGEST HITS:I Want You Back, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Bad, Black or White, Earth Song

ACCUSATIONS:In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, and police raided his California ranch "Neverland."

The same year, Jackson announced he had become addicted to painkillers and abruptly canceled a world tour to promote his album, "Dangerous."

He reached a settlement in 1994, later reported to be $23 million, with the family of the boy he was accused of abusing.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY: In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999. The couple never lived together.

Jackson has three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.

MORE CONTROVERSY: A television documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" was aired in 2003, saying that Jackson still had sleepovers with young boys and had his third child with a surrogate mother. Jackson aired his own rebuttal.
Jackson went on trial in 2005 on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, as well as conspiring to abduct the boy. The singer faced nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.

The four-month trial ended in June 2005 with his being acquitted of all charges. Jackson has spent time in Bahrain, Ireland and France since the child molestation case ended.

COMEBACK: After several false dawns, Jackson and music promoter AEG Live announced he would perform 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena. Jackson had been due to start the concerts on July 13. Jackson had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the London shows, which sold out within hours of within hours of going on sale in March.

Want to know more about him. Follow bellow BBC news links:

• Some Lifetime Photos
• Michael Jackson: Highs and lows
• Jackson's contribution to music

Lets pray for Him

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Is it possible to conduct electricity without wires?

Wireless electric power transfer is theoretically possible and it’s in the R&D phase of many leading research labs in the world. Nasa hopes to power its Mars Rover wirelessly in future missions. The basic technology is simple: rectify the received microwave signal using a microwave low-pass filter and a diode. This structure is called rectenna (rectifier + antenna). Many Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems work on wirelessly transferred electric power. But to power your mobile system wirelessly, considerable power needs to be discharged which can be hazardous.

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What is the significance of lanterns in Chinese culture?

Signalling the close of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the lantern festival occurs on the first full moon. Lanterns represent the completion of this period of harmony and 'roundness' because they lead the way home for festival guests. The day of lanterns sends the blessing of harmony, order and unity to remain with everyone for the rest of the year. Like the glowing orbs of the lantern festival, the eating of rice dumplings called 'tang yuan', glutinous rice balls with a sweet filling, also symbolises the wish that life runs sweetly and smoothly.

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Word of the Week: Rape

Word of the Week that was: Rape

Meaning: Rape, sometimes called sexual assault, involves sexual intercourse with another person without their consent

Etymology: From the Latin verb 'rapere' which means to seize or take by force

Origin: Rape originally had no sexual connotations. The word is still used generically in English. In ancient times, rape was viewed less as an assault on a woman and more as a serious property crime against the man to whom she belonged, typically the father or husband. The loss of virginity was an especially serious matter. A raped woman's prospects of finding a husband and an appropriate bride price reduced.

Current Significance: On Thursday, Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja, who is accused of raping his maid, was remanded to judicial custody till July 2. Rape is increasingly reported, giving rise to the perception that its incidence is rising across the world. A recent survey in South Africa found one in four men admitting they had raped someone at least once. Nearly half admitted more than one attack. The study, by the country's Medical Research Council, said practices such as gang rape were common because they were considered a form of male bonding.

History: The history of rape and its changing meaning is complex. In Roman times, rape was considered a 'public wrong' or iniuria publica, as opposed to a 'private wrong' or iniuria privita. Rape-along with arson, treason and murder-has always been a capital offense. Till the colonial period, rape along with arson, treason and murder was a capital offense. In England in the early fourteenth century, a rape victim was expected to gouge out the eyes and sever the offender's testicles herself. Mediaeval theologian Thomas Aquinas argued that rape, though sinful, was much more acceptable than masturbation because it fulfilled the procreative function of sex, while the other acts violated its purpose.

Public perception of rape arguably changed with the 1988 film 'The Accused', starring Jodie Foster. The film explored issues pertaining to the legal and moral responsibility of witnesses. It also challenged the prevalent view that a scantily clad woman in a bar on her own was "asking for it".

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Why do we blink when a hammer strikes metal?

Blinking, apart from cleaning and lubricating the soft tissues of eyes, also serves as a protective way of keeping things away from entering the eyes, by lowering the eyelids and lashes for protection. Blinking is a reflex action and happens automatically, as soon as the brain perceives a threat. The striking of hammer is taken as a threat by the brain. There are multiple muscles that control the reflex action of blinking.

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Words of the week : Cricket Test

Words of the week : Cricket Test

Meaning: Bloodied by a fearsome terrorist attack and badly hit by economic fraud, cricket is being tested like never before. This is a cricket test rather than Test cricket

Origin: Test cricket has had a remarkably smooth run for a 132-year-old game. But two disparate events appear to have plunged it into a crisis - the sudden disappearance in disgrace of Texan billionaire Robert Allen Stanford and the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team touring Pakistan. Stanford's abrupt exit - without paying the bills - has arguably left world cricket without too many options about how to create a new order that would reconcile the various forms of the game and its warring parties. Just a few months ago, in the West Indies, Stanford had played benefactor to an English version of the Twenty20. It was meant to compete with the new and, until now, hugely successful Indian Premier League (IPL). Then Stanford disappeared. And now, there are fears over security in the sub-continent, which means South Asian cricket can never really be the same again, at least for the foreseeable future. Already, insurance premiums for cricket matches are spiralling. It may become impossibly expensive for organizers, broadcasters and cricket boards to buy the special contingent policies they take out to cover loss of revenue when a match is cancelled because of adverse weather or terrorist attack

Etymology: Before Stanford and Lahore, Test cricket was already in a crisis. Even fanatical fans of Test cricket admitted the five-day game was, well, a bit too long. Many reluctantly agreed it was the sporting equivalent of an epic novel. Twenty20, cricket's 21st-century avatar, was meant to let the game chime with an age that demanded instant gratification. It's thought that there simply aren't enough days in the year and dollars in Test cricket to preserve Test calendars

Current significance: The cricket test is hard-going because Test cricket is in the doldrums and it's getting harder even to conduct an IPL Twenty20 match. Till Saturday, it was feared that security concerns would force the IPL to be postponed or not held at all this year. But it's going ahead, albeit with a revised gameplan.
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What is the Calcutta Cup?

On Christmas Day in 1872, a game of rugby between 20 players representing England on one side and 20 representing Scotland, Ireland and Wales on the other, was played in Calcutta. The match was such a success that it was repeated a week later. These matches led to the formation of the Calcutta Football Club in January 1873. The Calcutta Club joined the Rugby Football Union in 1874, and since then it is called the Calcutta Cup.

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Why are hats a rage at the races?

Fascinating hats are worn in Royal enclosures at Ascot and other horse races during Ladies’ Day when women come out in force and the venue turns into a fashion ramp. History shows that popularity of hats and kerchiefs dates back to early 1800s. Outrageous hats, generally made out of a bowl of fruits, were sported by singer/actress Carmen Miranda in the 1940s. Hats indicated a status symbol, adorned with coloured feathers that only the elite and courtiers could afford. Victorian tea hats were also very popular.

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What is viral mail?

A viral email is an online chain letter, which is sent from person to person, almost like ancient talking drums. The term ‘viral’ comes from virus, meaning pass-along. Viral mails are generally humorous in nature. These mails are also used for commercial purposes — called viral marketing or advertising; these are used to spread awareness about products, services or concepts. Viral mail is different from spam, which is let loose on the net. 

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What is the Bombay blood group?

This is an extremely rare ABO group, called so because it was first discovered among some people in Bombay (now Mumbai). Although the group is more likely to occur in East Indians, it is a very rare group even here. It is not restricted to East Indians but found in Caucasians, Japanese, etc. Their red cells lack ABH antigens and their sera contain anti-A and anti-B and anti-H. The anti-H would not be detected in the ABO group but would be detectable in pretransfusion tests.

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What is the origin of the term 'earmark'?

Earmark, which we now use to mean 'to designate' or 'to set aside for a particular purpose', actually has a very simple origin. For centuries, farmers marked their livestock as their property by cutting distinctive notches in the animals' ears. Earmark in this literal sense, first appeared in English around 1591. But the use of 'earmark' in the figurative sense arose only in the late 19th century.

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What are floaters?

Floaters can be any of these things:

• Musca volitans: spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humour and lens of the eye;
• a debt instrument with variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate;
• a vagrant with no established residence or visible means of support;
  
• an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed;
  
• a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election;
  
• a swimmer who floats in the water;
  
• an object that floats or is capable of floating;
  
• an insurance policy covering loss of movable property (like jewellery) regardless of location.

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Word of the week that was : Summit

Meaning: The highest point; the top; the highest level or degree that can be attained; a conference or meeting of high-level leaders, usually called to shape a programme of action. Summited, summiting, summits is its verb form Etymology: Middle English somet, from Old French sommette, diminutive of som, top, from Latin summum Current significance: This is turning out to be the summer of summits. Here are two that made headlines this week

SUMMIT OF HOPE

With the world facing the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, there was much hype and hoopla about the G 20 summit in London on April 2. Some called it the summit that would save the world, which may seem an overdone claim for a grouping of finance ministers and central bank governors. But US president Barack Obama attended and the leaders agreed a trillion-dollar stimulus for the world economy. Sections of the world's press were suffused by hope. Le Figaro lyrically said it was "The symphony of a new world”. French business paper Les Echos expressed relief the leaders had put aside divisions and egos to create a new powerful grouping, commenting "If it's not exactly a world government ... it's much more than a summit”.

SUMMIT OF SHAME

For India the week was the very summit of shame with the CBI giving Congress leader Jagdish Tytler a clean chit in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The case against Tytler, Congress candidate for the north-east Delhi parliamentary constituency, relates to a mob arson attack on a gurdwara on November 1, 1984 after Indira Gandhi's assassination. The all-clear for Tytler is seen to be the low point for the rule of law. And that's when it had started to seem things would be different with Gujarat's Maya Kodnani becoming the first government minister anywhere in the country to be arrested in connection with communal violence. Tytler, however, seems to underline Kodnani's unique status – she is more the exception than the rule.

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What is 3-G technology?

3-G technology refers to third generation of mobile telephony technology, with improved and extended facilities over the first and second generation technologies. Transfer of data in 3-G is many times faster, up to 384 kpbs.

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Who invented the speech bubble and when was it first used?

One of the earliest antecedents to the modern speech bubble was the speech scroll - wispy lines that connected first person speech to the mouths of speakers in Meso-American art. In Western graphic art, labels that reveal what a figure is saying have appeared even in the 13th century. Word balloons began appearing in 18th century printed broadsides and political cartoons from the American Revolution often used them.

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What is a staycation?

A staycation is a neologism in vogue, where a person or family stays home instead of taking expensive and stressful vacations to exotic locations. It is a new travel word and is very popular what with today's recession and high prices. It could involve taking day trips in and around the city. Such a vacation could also include activities like doing up the house and lazing around in the backyard and attending local festivals.

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What is administratium?

It is a spoof on administration. Its official definition: Administratium is the heaviest element known to science and was recently discovered at a major US research university. The element has no protons or electrons and thus, has the atomic number 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice-neutrons and 111 assistant vice-neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons. Since it has no electrons, administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with.

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What is tongue grafting?

It is a term used in grafting of plants. For the whip and tongue graft, similar cuts are made on the stock and scion. These are made with a single draw of the knife and have a smooth surface so the two can develop a good graft union.

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What is a prebituary?

A prebituary is an obituary composed or published prior to a person’s death — it is a write-up of the lifetime achievements of famous personalities to mark their 65th birthdays.

------If you know more then give comment-------

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How did the term 'yorker' originate?

Yorker’ is a cricketing term for a straight ball that passes underneath the striker’s bat, especially by pitching it right up to or just inside the popping crease. To ‘york’ means to cheat, trick or over-reach a person. It is also called so because its aim is to ‘entice’ the batsman, who, in moving forward to play it as a full toss, may be yorked as the ball passes under the bat. This style originated in Yorkshire, and was already being perfected in 1988.

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Which is the oldest civilization?

The Sumerian civilization is the oldest civilization known to mankind. The term ‘Sumer’ is today used to designate southern Mesopotamia. In 3000 BC, a flourishing urban civilization existed. The Sumerian civilization was predominantly agricultural and had community life. The Sumerians were adept at building canals and in irrigation. Excavated objects such as pottery, jewellery and weapons show they were also skilled in the use of metals like copper, gold and silver and had developed artistry and technological knowledge. China is the oldest surviving civilization.

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Which is the biggest missile test centre in the world?

Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is the world's largest, land-based rocket range. It has a chain of downrange flight monitoring, observing and recovery stations from inland Alaska to Spitzbergen in the Arctic Ocean.

Poker Flat is a sounding rocket launch facility 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks used for auroral and middle to upper atmospheric research. It's operated by the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

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What is a surgical strike?

A surgical strike is an attack using missiles, bombers or on the ground against certain specific targets. The strike is planned with surgical precision so they cause damage only to the planned targets and cause minimum damage to their surroundings. These attacks are usually carried out against terrorist camps, training grounds, or facilities such as power stations, armouries, etc. The strikes are without any warning and are carried out at dawn with an element of surprise.

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What does Burundanga mean?

Burundanga is the other name of the drug ‘Scopolamine’, used for criminal activities like rape or to rob innocent victims. The drug is passed on to the victim through business cards, pamphlets, etc. Even if the skin, through touch, absorbs just a very small quantity of the drug it has the desired effect. The drug is also administered through tablets added to drinks. This is known as the ‘dating drug’.

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What is passive immunity?

There are two types of immunity for infectious microorganisms: active immunity and passive immunity. Passive immunity is provided by artificial means such as injections of antibodies and vaccines. The agents used for passive immunity include antibodies from humans or animals.

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How are sunrise and sunset determined for a place?

Sunset occurs when the upper edge of the sun — called the upper limb — sinks just under the horizon; sunrise occurs when the upper limb rises just above the horizon.

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Why are mosquitoes attracted to the color black?

Mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors, not only black, because dark colors absorb heat and lighter colors tend to reflect. Since mosquitoes have sophisticated and highly sensitive heat sensors, they tend to be more attracted to victims dressed in darker clothes, where there is more heat.

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What is a Black Forest dress?

Black Forest or Schwarzwald is a thickly wooded mountainous region in southwest Germany, extending over 4,600 square miles. Three neighbouring parishes - Gutach, Wolfach-Kirnbach, and Hornberg-Reichenbach of Black Forest - are known for their women's traditional costumes known as the 'Black Forest dress' worn on special occasions. It consists of long skirts with floral designs and the Bollenhut, a wide-brimmed hat decorated with woollen balls or pom-poms. Red pom-poms are worn by unmarried women and black by married ones.

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Who is a stealth shopper?

A stealth shopper is a person who shops secretly to avoid flaunting wealth or to hide expenses from a spouse. It could mean shopping on the net or from catalogues through a friend to avoid being spotted.

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How was the first world map drawn?

The first world map was chiselled on a clay tablet in ancient Babylon in 6 BC. The Greeks in 4 BC had similar maps though they correctly believed that the earth was not flat, but a sphere. The first reasonably accurate world map was drawn by hand on paper by Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish geographer. His first world map was produced in 1538 and improved upon in 1585.

Note: If you have any additional information please give in comment

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Fact : Heard of these?

1. The plastice things on the end of the shoelaces are called aglets.
2. The ridges on the sides of coins are called reeding or milling.
3. Ballistics is the science that deals with the motion of projectiles like bullets for example.
4. Cannibalism, or the practice of eating human flesh, is also called anthropophagy.
5. A single grass plant can have over 100 km of roots. The roots make up a dense mat close to the surface, which helps to keep the grassland soil in place. If the grass plants are removed, the soil quickly dries out and is easily blown away.
6. You can give in comment. I will add
7. You can give in comment. I will add

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Fact : Fantastic Facts

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1. Carrot is the vegetable with best narutal balance of both minerals and vitamins. Twelve of the body's vital mineral salts are found in perfect balance in the fresh carrot.
2. Egales can live in captivity for upto 46 years.
3. Crocodiles which are seen in the Shari river in Africa have stripes like Zebras.
4. The smallest penguin is the fairy penguin which is only 40 cm tall.
5. The giraffe can survive in waterless tracts for as along as 7 to 9 months.

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Fact : Nasty Facts

1. Every year, parks in London alone are doused in one million gallons of dog urine.
2. The germs present in human faeces can pass through ten layers of toilet paper.
3. If your body's natural defenses failed, the bacteria in your gut would consume you within 48 hours, literally eating you from insides out.
4. Parasites count for 0.01% of your body weight.
5. The longest recorded tapeworm found in the human body was 33 meters in length.
6. A Woman who had visited a South American rain forest, Began to experience serve pains in her left ear, accompanied by headaches, dizziness and constant rusting sounds, at first put down to tinnits. It became so serious that exploratory surgery was required, which revealed a spider trapped in her ear. Eventually it has eaten through he eardrum and was living within the aural caity. The rustling sounds were the spider crawing around inside her skull. An egg sac was also removed.

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What is the Superman seat-grab?

In freestyle motocross, when the rider is in the air, it is termed 'Big Air'. Superman seat-grab is considered a regular trick in which, when the rider is in the air (18 m is the minimum suitable height for performing this trick), puts one hand on the handle bar and other grabs the seat of the bike, and extends the lower body up in the air. A few riders keep their legs closed, others curve and open them slightly in the air. It is not to be confused with the 'Hart-attack' technique, which is slightly different.

 
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If the density of gold is more than that of iron, why is gold softer than iron?

The softness of a metal is its ability to undergo permanent deformation under applied stress. All metals have specific crystalline structures. Each structure has its own densely packed crystalline planes. There exist line defects and plane defects in a crystal system. Such defects are more in densely packed crystal systems, i.e., metallic crystals with higher density, and result in a number of slip planes, which can easily deform under a little stress. Noble metals like platinum, gold and silver have extra slip planes called twinning. Iron and most of its alloys have very rigid and open packed crystal structures and are difficult to deform.

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Why are viruses at the borderline of living and non-living things?

A virus has a very simple composition. It has a protein sheath inside which there is a strand of DNA. A virus shows some properties akin to living organisms. However, unlike other organisms, they show some properties that are akin to non-living things. They can undergo crystallization and in that form, survive for billions of years. They can survive very high temperatures, freezing cold and ultra-violet radiation in space vacuum, in crystallized form.

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Fact:Fun Facts

1. Cockroaches have remained unchanged on the earth for about 2,50,000,000 years.
2. There are 6984 railway stations in India.
3. Man is the only animal that can sleep on his back.

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World's largest swimming pool?

The world's largest swimming pool is in San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, Chile. This man made wonder is eight hectares in size and contains an incredible 250,000 cubic meters of water and its deepest end reaches 115ft. It has been acknowledged by Guinness World Records for world's largest swimming pool.

The San Alfonso del Mar resort is situated on Chile’s southern coast, 100 km west of Santiago. This artificial lagoon, cost an estimated $US1.5 billion ($1.74 billion) to build.

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What is the Peking Opera?

The Peking Opera, which originated in the late 18th century, is a synthesis of music, dance, art and acrobatics. It is the most influential of all operas in China, and can be divided into 'civil' pieces characterized by singing, and 'martial' ones featuring acrobatics and stunts. Some operas are a combination of both. The operatic dialogues and monologues are recited in the Beijing dialect.

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What is Jeu de Paume?

Jeu de Paume is also called ‘real tennis’ or ‘court tennis’. It is the precursor of modern tennis and was a rage in Renaissance Europe. Jeu de Paume traces its history to the 11th century when French monks played the sport using their bare hands to volley cloth bags of hair or cork. Translated, it means ‘Game of palm’. It was played on an indoor court with angled walls and netted windows and involved smacking the ball. It was regarded by the upper classes as a provincial pastime initially.

In time, young nobles educated in monasteries brought the game to palaces and urban areas. By the early 1500s, the game embraced battoir (racquets) and introduced a cord (later a net) to separate players into two halves of the court, to take shape as modern tennis. Though men dominated the sport, the most celebrated player of the 15th century was Margot of Hainault, who defeated some of the best men in the game in 1427 in Paris.

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What is a 'Vocal Joystick'?

The 'Vocal Joystick' has been developed by researchers at the University of Washington. It is a computer software which allows the disabled, who can use their voice but not their hands or arms, to control a cursor using sounds. This joy stick detects sounds 100 times a second and converts it into movement on screen.

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Dirty bomb

A dirty bomb is a simple explosive device used not so much to produce extensive damage but to contaminate a designated spot with radioactive material. It's primary role is to spread fear.

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Which was the first living organism on Earth?

Scientific experiments in the 1950s showed how lightning flashes might create amino acids, the basic chemicals of life, from the waters and gases of early Earth.
But no one knows how these chemicals joined up to become 'self replicating' i.e. able to make copies of themselves. This is the key to life which remains a mystery.
However, the first life forms were probably a tiny bacteria called archebacteria, which thrive in very hot, chemically rich places.

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What is Defty?

Almost every institutional investor and offshore fund enterprise with equity exposure in India would like to have an instrument for measuring returns on equity investment in terms of dollars. To facilitate this, a new index the S&P CNX Defty, a dollar-denominated S&P CNX Nifty, has been developed. S&P CNX Defty is S&P CNX Nifty, measured in dollars. It provides an effective tool for hedging Indian equity exposure. It also provides fund managers an instrument for measuring returns on their equity investment in dollars.

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What is bruxism?

Bruxism is the involuntary gnashing of teeth. Some people with bruxism — originating from the Greek word ‘brychein’ — clench their teeth during the day when they are tense. This is different from tooth grinding or clenching that occurs at night, which is called sleep bruxism. Mild bruxism may not require treatment, but in severe cases, can lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damaged teeth and other problems.

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What is Loop Quantum Cosmo-logy?

It is the theory on which the concept of the recycled universe is based. Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) has been teasing physicists since 2003 with the idea that our universe could conceivably have emerged from the collapse of a previous universe. It theorises that our universe expands and then contracts over and over again, rebirthing for infinity. According to scientists, LQC is based on quantum Riemannian geometry, or loop quantum gravity, which is an attempt at a non-perturbative and background-independent quantization of general relativity.

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What is Andorra most famous for?

Andorra is a small nation of 453 sq. kms located on the French-Spanish border. It is an autonomous co-principality under the joint sovereignty of the Bishop of Urgel in Spain and the French Chief of State (President). The country is most famous for tourism and tobacco. Both French and Spanish currencies are valid in Andorra, while its own dinar coins are meant only for collectors.

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Who is Lady Justice?

The origin may be Themis, a Greek mythological goddess, who advised Zeus after his purge of the old pantheon. A daughter of Themis and Zeus, Dike, known as a goddess of justice but not divine justice, presided over the apportionment of things among mortals, the protection of individuals and the social and political order. At times, Dike is said to be the same as (or is confused with) Astraea. Astraea is also a daughter of Themis and Zeus and is known as a goddess of justice. In western tradition, Lady Justice sometimes wears a blindfold and carries a sword and scales. She symbolises the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice, or favour.

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What is mobile elbow?

The mobile elbow results from using the mobile for long hours. Called the 'cubital tunnel syndrome', it is also called 'cell phone elbow'. The problem occurs when the ulnar nerve, which runs across the elbow, down to the ring and little fingers, gets over-stretched and blood supply is restricted, sparked by holding a phone to the ear for long periods.

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What is barcode art?

Barcode art is created using the personalized data of a human being. When an individual's gender, weight, height, age and location are entered, a barcode is formed using real-world data. This barcode can then be printed, mapped, scanned, even depicted on a T-shirt or a coffee mug. Scanning this barcode projects the user's brand of humour. The calculation of an individual's BMI based on the height and weight data reveals the health of an individual. Thus, those considered underweight or overweight are worth less money. Thanks to the dominance of the US, all barcodes are published in inches and pounds.

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Why does steel glow when it's hot?

Hot steel glows red when hot because its atoms vibrate with a lot of energy. The amount of energy varies in atoms resulting in a range of colours.

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Why are cellphones switched off while flying?

Mobile phones are radio transmitters and as such, were banned from use in civilian airplanes, for fear they could interfere with airplane avionics. There was also concern that a cellular phone would cause disruption to the cell systems' towers, and distract passengers during take-off and landing.

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What is cryopreservation?

Cryopreservation (freezing at super cold temperatures) of tissue and cells is a technique which puts the cells in suspended animation where they can retain their viability indefinitely. Cryopreservation protects against catastrophic losses caused by such events as disease outbreaks, fire, breeding cessation, or genetic contamination and eliminates the necessity of maintaining stocks 'on the shelf' when those stocks are not being actively used. Cryobiology improved rapidly with the discovery of the beneficial effects of cryoprotectant substances that are added to cell freezing solutions. Cryopreservation is now routinely used to store semen, embryos and all types of cells/tissue of animals and humans.

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What is helicopter parenting?

What is helicopter parenting?

It's a colloquial term that refers to a style of parenting which involves paying extremely close attention to children. It's also called overparenting. It gets its name from the fact that parents hover over children like a helicopter, to make sure they aren't harmed in any way. This particularly pertains to school-related problems. It can be detrimental for children who end up being overprotected.

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What is the Latur pattern of study?

The Latur pattern of study involves continuous and methodical practice of model question papers months before the board exams. This method was devised by principal Aniruddha Jadhav of Rajarishi Shahu College in Latur, who felt this mechanical methodology of continuous study helps students in providing point-to-point answers to questions which could be expected in the examination. This methodology, however, has been lambasted by educationists who consider it a tool to gain temporary advantage that does not aim to prepare them for advanced learning.

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What is synchronised and circular trading in the stock exchange?

A synchronised trade is a transaction wherein the buy and sell order quantities are identical, and are put through at exactly the same time on the trading platform. Circular trades in a particular scrip happen when a closely knit set of market entities, mainly brokers, buy and sell shares frequently among themselves to push up the stock price. Since there are no genuine intentions to trade in the case of circular trades, the trading volumes thus generated are referred to as artificial volumes.

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What is an electron gun?

It is a device in the back of a "cathode ray tube" television or computer monitor (pre-plasma or LCD flat-panel). The electron gun fires a stream of electrons from the back of the TV onto the inside face of the screen, which is coated with a material that glows when hit by electrons. By using powerful magnets to direct the stream across the screen, a series of dots ('pixels') is built over the screen which appears as an image.

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When and why do we celebrate Engineer's Day?

September 15 is celebrated every year in India as Engineer's Day to commemorate the birthday of the legendary engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya (1861-1962). Internationally recognised for his genius in harnessing water resources, he was responsible for successful design and construction of several river dams, bridges and implementing irrigation and drinking water schemes all over India.

He served as the dewan of Mysore State and was considered to be the architect of the all-round development of Karnataka. Among his most successful projects are the design and construction of the K.R. Sagar dam and its adjoining Brindavan Gardens, turn-around of the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works, setting up of the Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory and the founding of the Bank of Mysore.

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What is daltonism?

Daltonism is another term for colour blindness, named after John Dalton, a scientist. There are specific cells on the retina for forming real inverted images after refraction from the eye's lens. Cone-shaped cells respond to colours. Colour-blind people lack such cells which enable them to distinguish between colours, mostly red and green. Such people have normal vision. This is a congenital defect which is inherited.

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When did Malaysia get its independence from the British?

Malaysia got its independence from the British on August 31, 1957 in a very peaceful manner through talks. Additionally, Malaysian independence was realised by three people of different cultures and religions. On August 31, 1957, Malaya's first Prime Minister Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman proudly declared the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia) by shouting out 'Merdeka' seven times at the Merdeka Stadium.

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How do chocolates elevate the mood of a person?

Chocolate contains small quantities of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid found in the brain. Sceptics claim one would need to consume several pounds of chocolate to gain any very noticeable psychoactive effect. And eat a lot more to get fully stoned! It's worth noting that N-oleolethanolamine and N-linoleoylethanolamine, two structural cousins of anandamide present in chocolate, both inhibit the metabolism of anandamide.

It has been speculated that they promote and prolong the mood of a person induced by anandamide.

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How is the mass of heavenly bodies measured?

The mass of a heavenly body can be measured by knowing the orbital period (time it takes to complete one orbit around the other body), the distance between two bodies and gravitational constant. The orbital time is inversely proportionate to the square root of the sum of the masses of two bodies and directly proportion distance raised to power three by two.
 

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What is telepresence?

Telepresence is the next-gen videoconferencing technology, which provides superior images. The demand for telepresence solutions has grown, with companies seeing it as an alternative to send executives for meetings. It also reduces a company's carbon footprint by cutting down frequent flying. Setting up a telepresence suite can be very expensive, though.


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