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Topic Review
Ahiṃsā
Ahimsa (also spelt Ahinsa) (Sanskrit: अहिंसा IAST: ahiṃsā, Pāli: avihiṃsā) ("nonviolence," although see Etymology below) is an ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues of Jainism, where it is first of the Pancha Mahavrata. It is also the first of the five precepts of Buddhism. Ahimsa is a multidimensional concept, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. Ahimsa has also been related to the notion that any violence has karmic consequences. While ancient scholars of Hinduism pioneered and refined the principles of Ahimsa, the concept also reached an extraordinary development in the ethical philosophy of Jainism. lord Parsvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara of Jainism, revived and preached the concept of non-violence in the 8th century BCE. Mahaviraswami, the twenty-fourth and the last tirthankara further strengthened the idea in the 6th century BCE. Perhaps the most popular advocate of the principle of Ahimsa was Mahatma Gandhi. Ahimsa's precept of 'cause no injury' includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts. Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as modern scholars, debate principles of Ahimsa when one is faced with war and situations requiring self-defence. Historical Indian literature has in this way contributed to modern theories of Just War and self-defence.
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  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts of High-Speed Rail
Countries considering high-speed rail (HSR) developments face enormous challenges because of their high deployment cost, environmental obstacles, political opposition, and their potentially adverse effects on society. Nevertheless, HSR services are importantly sustainable that can have positive and transformative effects on the economic growth of a nation. 
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  • 22 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Sexual Fetishism
Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a non-pathological aid to sexual excitement, or as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism. While medical definitions restrict the term sexual fetishism to objects or body parts, fetish can, in common discourse, also refer to sexual interest in specific activities.
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  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Dhyāna in Buddhism
In the oldest texts of Buddhism, dhyāna (Sanskrit) or jhāna (Pāḷi) is the training of the mind, commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)." Dhyāna may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment, and are fully realized with the practice of dhyana. In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Theravāda, dhyāna is equated with "concentration," a state of one-pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non-beneficial for awakening, which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and vipassanā (insight into impermanence). Since the 1980s, scholars and practitioners have started to question this equation, arguing for a more comprehensive and integrated understanding and approach, based on the oldest descriptions of dhyāna in the suttas. In Chán and Zen, the names of which Buddhist traditions are the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations, respectively, of dhyāna, dhyāna is the central practice, which is ultimately based on Sarvastivāda meditation practices, and has been transmitted since the beginning of the Common Era.
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  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Five Precepts
The five precepts (Pali: pañcasīla; Sanskrit: pañcaśīla) or five rules of training (Pali: pañcasikkhapada; Sanskrit: pañcaśikṣapada) is the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay people. They constitute the basic code of ethics undertaken by lay followers of Buddhism. The precepts are commitments to abstain from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. Within the Buddhist doctrine, they are meant to develop mind and character to make progress on the path to enlightenment. They are sometimes referred to as the śrāvakayāna precepts in the Mahāyāna tradition, contrasting them with the bodhisattva precepts. The five precepts form the basis of several parts of Buddhist doctrine, both lay and monastic. With regard to their fundamental role in Buddhist ethics, they have been compared with the ten commandments in Christianity or the ethical codes of Confucianism. The precepts have been connected with utilitarianist, deontological and virtue approaches to ethics. They have been compared with human rights because of their universal nature, and some scholars argue they can complement the concept of human rights. The five precepts were common to the religious milieu of 6th-century BCE India, but the Buddha's focus on awareness through the fifth precept was unique. As shown in Early Buddhist Texts, the precepts grew to be more important, and finally became a condition for membership of the Buddhist religion. When Buddhism spread to different places and people, the role of the precepts began to vary. In countries where Buddhism had to compete with other religions, such as China, the ritual of undertaking the five precepts developed into an initiation ceremony to become a Buddhist lay person. On the other hand, in countries with little competition from other religions, such as Thailand, the ceremony has had little relation to the rite of becoming Buddhist, as many people are presumed Buddhist from birth. Undertaking and upholding the five precepts is based on the principle of non-harming (Pāli and Sanskrit: ahiṃsa). The Pali Canon recommends one to compare oneself with others, and on the basis of that, not to hurt others. Compassion and a belief in karmic retribution form the foundation of the precepts. Undertaking the five precepts is part of regular lay devotional practice, both at home and at the local temple. However, the extent to which people keep them differs per region and time. People keep them with an intention to develop themselves, but also out of fear of a bad rebirth. The first precept consists of a prohibition of killing, both humans and all animals. Scholars have interpreted Buddhist texts about the precepts as an opposition to and prohibition of capital punishment, suicide, abortion and euthanasia. In practice, however, many Buddhist countries still use the death penalty. With regard to abortion, Buddhist countries take the middle ground, by condemning though not prohibiting it. The Buddhist attitude to violence is generally interpreted as opposing all warfare, but some scholars have raised exceptions. The second precept prohibits theft. The third precept refers to adultery in all its forms, and has been defined by modern teachers with terms such as sexual responsibility and long-term commitment. The fourth precept involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action, as well as malicious speech, harsh speech and gossip. The fifth precept prohibits intoxication through alcohol, drugs or other means. Early Buddhist Texts nearly always condemn alcohol, and so do Chinese Buddhist post-canonical texts. Buddhist attitudes toward smoking differ per time and region, but are generally permissive. In modern times, traditional Buddhist countries have seen revival movements to promote the five precepts. As for the West, the precepts play a major role in Buddhist organizations. They have also been integrated in mindfulness training programs, though many mindfulness specialists do not support this because of the precepts' religious import. Lastly, many conflict prevention programs make use of the precepts.
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  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program
The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) was initiated as an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the United States Air Force , the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies (BAEAT). Its original purpose was to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance. As a university-owned facility, HAARP is a high-power, high-frequency transmitter used for study of the ionosphere. The most prominent instrument at HAARP is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high-power radio frequency transmitter facility operating in the high frequency (HF) band. The IRI is used to temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere. Other instruments, such as a VHF and a UHF radar, a fluxgate magnetometer, a digisonde (an ionospheric sounding device), and an induction magnetometer, are used to study the physical processes that occur in the excited region. Work on the HAARP facility began in 1993. The current working IRI was completed in 2007; its prime contractor was BAE Systems Advanced Technologies. As of 2008, HAARP had incurred around $250 million in tax-funded construction and operating costs. In May 2014, it was announced that the HAARP program would be permanently shut down later in the year. After discussions between the parties, ownership of the facility and its equipment was transferred to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in August 2015. HAARP is a target of conspiracy theorists, who claim that it is capable of "weaponizing" weather. Commentators and scientists say that advocates of this theory are uninformed, as claims made fall well outside the abilities of the facility, if not the scope of natural science.
  • 7.2K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Role-Playing Games
Role-Playing Games may be defined as a system for creating stories based on rules. They allow a group of players and a game director (also known as Game Master or Narrator) to participate and interact using their imagination to determine what could happen. There are different kinds of Role-Playing Games (RPGs) that relate to video games and online video games. The original RPGs, sometimes called tabletop RPGs or pen-and-paper RPGs, were the starting point of their digital relatives, and used mainly speech and imagination; however, technology may be used in some cases for communication. RPGs that are played by writing posts in forums or sending emails are called Play by Post (PbP). Some RPGs even require live interaction, similar to theater representations; these are called Live Action Role Play (LARP).
  • 7.2K
  • 17 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Britain and Ireland from the later medieval period until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. Ballads are often 13 lines with an ABABBCBC form, consisting of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. Another common form is ABAB or ABCB repeated, in alternating 8 and 6 syllable lines. Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or rock music, although the term is also associated with the concept of a stylized storytelling song or poem, particularly when used as a title for other media such as a film.
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  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Aestheticization of Violence
The aestheticization of violence in high culture art or mass media has been the subject of considerable controversy and debate for centuries. In Western art, graphic depictions of the Passion of Christ have long been portrayed, as have a wide range of depictions of warfare by later painters and graphic artists. Theater and, in modern times, cinema have often featured battles and violent crimes, while images and descriptions of violence have always been a part of literature. Margaret Bruder states that the aestheticization of violence in film is the depiction of violence in a "stylistically excessive", "significant and sustained way" in which audience members are able to connect references from the "play of images and signs" to artworks, genre conventions, cultural symbols, or concepts.
  • 7.2K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
List of Human Spaceflight Programs
This is a list of human spaceflight programs, including successful programs, programs that were canceled, and programs planned for the future. The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The FAI defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the U.S. professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometers (50 mi) are awarded astronaut wings. This article follows the FAI definition of spaceflight. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived.
  • 7.2K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Basalt
Basalt (/bəˈsɔːlt, ˈbæsɒlt, -sɔːlt/) is a mafic extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich lava exposed at or very near the surface of a terrestrial planet or a moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Basalt lava has a low viscosity, due to its low silica content, resulting in rapid lava flows that can spread over great areas before cooling and solidification. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of lava basalt flows.
  • 7.2K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Homology
In biology, homology is similarity due to shared ancestry between a pair of structures or genes in different taxa. A common example of homologous structures is the forelimbs of vertebrates, where the wings of bats and birds, the arms of primates, the front flippers of whales and the forelegs of four-legged vertebrates like dogs and crocodiles are all derived from the same ancestral tetrapod structure. Evolutionary biology explains homologous structures adapted to different purposes as the result of descent with modification from a common ancestor. The term was first applied to biology in a non-evolutionary context by the anatomist Richard Owen in 1843. Homology was later explained by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in 1859, but had been observed before this, from Aristotle onwards, and it was explicitly analysed by Pierre Belon in 1555. In developmental biology, organs that developed in the embryo in the same manner and from similar origins, such as from matching primordia in successive segments of the same animal, are serially homologous. Examples include the legs of a centipede, the maxillary palp and labial palp of an insect, and the spinous processes of successive vertebrae in a vertebral column. Male and female reproductive organs are homologous if they develop from the same embryonic tissue, as do the ovaries and testicles of mammals including humans. Sequence homology between protein or DNA sequences is similarly defined in terms of shared ancestry. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of either a speciation event (orthologs) or a duplication event (paralogs). Homology among proteins or DNA is inferred from their sequence similarity. Significant similarity is strong evidence that two sequences are related by divergent evolution from a common ancestor. Alignments of multiple sequences are used to discover the homologous regions. Homology remains controversial in animal behaviour, but there is suggestive evidence that, for example, dominance hierarchies are homologous across the primates.
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  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
2D-MoS2
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are generally defined as crystalline substances with a few atoms thickness.Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (2D-TMDs) semiconducting (SC) materials have exhibited unique optical and electrical properties. The layered configuration of the 2D-TMDs materials is at the origin of their strong interaction with light and the relatively high mobility of their charge carriers, which in turn prompted their use in many optoelectronic applications, such as ultra-thin field-effect transistors, photo-detectors, light emitting diode, and solar-cells. Generally, 2D-TMDs form a family of graphite-like layered thin semiconducting structures with the chemical formula of MX2, where M refers to a transition metal atom (Mo, W, etc.) and X is a chalcogen atom (Se, S, etc.). The layered nature of this class of 2D materials induces a strong anisotropy in their electrical, chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties. In particular, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is the most studied layered 2D-TMD.
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  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Indian Remote Sensing Programme
India's remote sensing program was developed with the idea of applying space technologies for the benefit of human kind and the development of the country. The program involved the development of three principal capabilities. The first was to design, build and launch satellites to a sun synchronous orbit. The second was to establish and operate ground stations for spacecraft control, data transfer along with data processing and archival. The third was to use the data obtained for various applications on the ground.
  • 7.2K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Overview of 21st-Century Propaganda
Since the end of the 20th century, propaganda has evolved significantly. Today's propaganda is characterised by psych-ops and disinformation, whereas a few decades ago it was dominated by posters and simple films.
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  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Copper Heap Leaching
Heap leaching is a firm extractive metallurgical technology facilitating the economical processing of different kinds of low-grade ores that are otherwise not exploited.
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  • 13 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Softmod
A softmod is a method of using software to modify the intended behavior of hardware, such as video cards, sound cards, or game consoles in a way that can overcome restrictions of the firmware, or install custom firmware.
  • 7.2K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Automobile Tires’ High-Carbon Steel Wire
It is a well-known fact that to manufacture an automobile tire more than 200 different materials are used, including high-carbon steel wire. In order to withstand the affecting forces, the tire tread is reinforced with steel wire or other products such as ropes or strands. These ropes are called steel cord. Steel cord can be of different constructions. To ensure a good adhesive bond between the rubber of the tire and the steel cord, the cord is either brass-plated or bronzed. The reason brass or bronze is used is because copper, which is a part of these alloys, makes a high-strength chemical composition with sulfur in rubber. For steel cord, the high carbon steel is usually used at 0.70–0.95% C. This amount of carbon ensures the high strength of the steel cord. This kind of high-quality, unalloyed steel has a pearlitic structure which is designed for multi-pass drawing. To ensure the specified technical characteristics, modern metal reinforcing materials for automobile tires, metal cord and bead wire, must withstand, first of all, a high breaking load with a minimum running meter weight. At present, reinforcing materials of the strength range 2800–3200 MPa are increasingly used, the manufacture of which requires high-strength wire. The production of such wire requires the use of a workpiece with high carbon content, changing the drawing regimes, patenting, and other operations. At the same time, it is necessary to achieve a reduction in the cost of wire manufacturing. In this context, the development and implementation of competitive processes for the manufacture of high-quality, high-strength wire as a reinforcing material for automobile tires is an urgent task.
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  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
35 Mm Film
35 mm film (millimeter) is the film gauge most commonly used for motion pictures and chemical still photography (see 135 film). The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 34.98 ±0.03 mm (1.377 ±0.001 inches) wide. The standard negative pulldown for movies ("single-frame" format) is four perforations per frame along both edges, which results in 16 frames per foot of film. For still photography, the standard frame has eight perforations on each side. A variety of largely proprietary gauges were devised for the numerous camera and projection systems being developed independently in the late 19th century and early 20th century, ranging from 13 to 75 mm (0.51 to 2.95 in), as well as a variety of film feeding systems. This resulted in cameras, projectors, and other equipment having to be calibrated to each gauge. The 35 mm width, originally specified as ​1 3⁄8 inches, was introduced in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using 120 film stock supplied by George Eastman. Film 35 mm wide with four perforations per frame became accepted as the international standard gauge in 1909, and remained by far the dominant film gauge for image origination and projection until the advent of digital photography and cinematography, despite challenges from smaller and larger gauges, because its size allowed for a relatively good trade-off between the cost of the film stock and the quality of the images captured. The gauge has been versatile in application. It has been modified to include sound, redesigned to create a safer film base, formulated to capture color, has accommodated a bevy of widescreen formats, and has incorporated digital sound data into nearly all of its non-frame areas. Eastman Kodak, Fujifilm and Agfa-Gevaert are some companies that offered 35 mm films. Today Kodak is the last remaining manufacturer of motion picture film. The ubiquity of 35 mm movie projectors in commercial movie theaters made 35 mm the only motion picture format that could be played in almost any cinema in the world, until digital projection largely superseded it in the 21st century. It is difficult to compare the quality of film to digital media, but a good estimate would be about 33.6 megapixels (67.2 megapixels DSLR Bayer equivalent) would equal one 35-millimeter high quality color frame of film.
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  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Stanford Web Credibility Project
The Stanford Web Credibility Project, which involves assessments of website credibility conducted by the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab, is an investigative examination of what leads people to believe in the veracity of content found on the Web. The goal of the project is to enhance website design and to promote further research on the credibility of Web resources.
  • 7.2K
  • 09 Nov 2022
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