Topic Review
Archaeogaming
Archaeogaming is an archaeological framework which, broadly speaking, includes the study of archaeology in and of video games as well as the use of video-games for archaeological purposes. To this end, the study can include, but is in no means limited to: the physical excavation of video-game hardware, the use of archaeological methods within game worlds, the creation of video-games for or about archaeological practices and outcomes or the critical study of how archaeology is represented in video-games. Virtual and augmented reality applications in archaeology might also be subsumed within its rubric. M. Dennis states that archaeogaming is “the utilization and treatment of immaterial space to study created culture, specifically through videogames” which “requires treating a game world, a world bounded and defined by the limitations of its hardware, software and coding choices, as both a closed universe and as an extension of the external culture that created it. Everything that goes into the immaterial space comes from its external cultural source, in one way or another.” Taking this into consideration the archaeogaming framework indicates that there is no functional difference between studying archaeology in the physical, material world, and implementing it with regards to the study, critique and creation of video-games for and about archaeology. As such it is said that archaeogaming “requires the same standards of practice as the physical collection of excavated data, only with a different toolset. It also provides the opportunity to use game worlds to reflect on practice, theory and the perceptions of [archaeology].”
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  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Archaeology of Wales
The Archaeology of Wales is the study of human occupation within the country of Wales, which has been occupied by modern humans since 225,000 BCE, with continuous occupation from 9,000 BCE. Analysis of the sites, artifacts and other archaeological data within Wales details its complex social landscape and evolution from Prehistoric times to the Industrial period. This study is undertaken by academic institutions, consultancies, charities as well as government organisations.
  • 365
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Archimedes Screw Turbines
Archimedes Screws Turbines (ASTs) are a new form of generators for small hydroelectric powerplants that could be applied even in low head sites. ASTs offer a clean and renewable source of energy. They are safer for wildlife and especially fish. The low rotation speed of ASTs reduces negative impacts on aquatic life and fish. Considering the flexibility and advantages of ASTs, they offer economic, social, and environmental advantages to support sustainable development to: - Increase the number of suitable sites and maximize power generation.- Retrofit old dams or upgrade current dams or mills to make them economically (power generation) and environmentally (renewable energy) reasonable.- Reduce the hydroelectricity major operational and/or maintenance costs.- Reduce the disturbance of natural erosion and sedimentation processes.- Make hydropower generation safer for aquatic wildlife, especially for fish.- Generate electricity for small communities, developing countries, and regions with limited access to the power grid or other infrastructures, or regions that are hard to access or connect to the power grid.  
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  • 12 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Architectural Lighting Design
Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture, interior design and electrical engineering that is concerned with the design of lighting systems, including natural light, electric light, or both, to serve human needs. The aim of lighting design is the human response, to see clearly and without discomfort. The objective of architectural lighting design is to further the design of architecture or the experience of buildings and other physical structures.
  • 848
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Eastern Europe. Due to its location in the South Caucasus, Armenia is sometimes described as transcontinental, spanning both Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor (under a Russian peacekeeping force) and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital and largest city. Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. The first Armenian state of Urartu was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC and in the year 301 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the kingdom fell in 1045 and Armenia was soon after invaded by the Seljuk Turks. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under the rule of the Ottoman and Persian empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, while most of the western parts of the traditional Armenian homeland remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I, 1.5 million Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian genocide. In 1918, following the Russian Revolution, all non-Russian countries declared their independence after the Russian Empire ceased to exist, leading to the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, and in 1922 became a founding member of the Soviet Union. In 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Armenia is a developing country and ranks 81st on the Human Development Index (2018). Its economy is primarily based on industrial output and mineral extraction. While Armenia is geographically located in the South Caucasus, it is generally considered geopolitically European. Since Armenia aligns itself in many respects geopolitically with Europe, the country is a member of numerous European organizations including the Council of Europe, the Eastern Partnership, Eurocontrol, the Assembly of European Regions, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Armenia is also a member of certain regional groups throughout Eurasia, including the Asian Development Bank, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Union, and the Eurasian Development Bank. Armenia supports the de facto independent Artsakh, which was proclaimed in 1991. Armenia also recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD.
  • 4.8K
  • 10 May 2023
Topic Review
Armenian Highlands
The Armenian Highlands (Armenian: Հայկական լեռնաշխարհ, romanized: Haykakan leṙnašxarh; also known as the Armenian Upland, Armenian plateau, or Armenian tableland) is the most central and the highest of the three plateaus that together form the northern sector of Western Asia. Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian Highlands are bounded by the Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus, the Kura-Aras lowlands, the Iranian Plateau, and Mesopotamia. The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Western Armenia is nowadays referred to as eastern Anatolia, and Eastern Armenia as the Lesser Caucasus or Caucasus Minor, and historically as the Anti-Caucasus, meaning "opposite the Caucasus". During the Iron Age, the region was known by variations of the name Ararat (Urartu, Uruatri, Urashtu). Later, the Highlands were known as Armenia Major, a central region to the history of Armenians, and one of the four geopolitical regions associated with Armenians, the other three being Armenia Minor, Sophene, and Commagene. The population of the region has been primarily Armenian for most of its known history. Prior to the appearance of nominally Armenian people in historical records, historians have hypothesized that the region must have been home to various ethnic groups who became homogenous when the Armenian language came to prominence. The population of the Armenian Highlands seem to have had a high level of regional genetic continuity for over 6,000 years. Recent studies have shown that the Armenian people are indigenous to the Armenian Highlands and form a distinct genetic isolate in the region. The region was also inhabited during Antiquity by minorities such as Assyrians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, and Iranians. During the Middle Ages, Arabs and particularly Turkmens and Kurds settled in large numbers in the Armenian Highlands. The Christian population of the western half of the region was exterminated during the Armenian genocide of 1915. Today, the eastern half is mainly inhabited by Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians, while the western half is mainly inhabited by Kurds (including Yazidis), Turks, Azerbaijanis, Armenians (included crypto-Armenians and Hemshins) and Zazas. The region was administered for most of its known history by Armenian nobility and states, whether it was as part of a fully independent Armenian state, as vassals, or as part of a foreign state. Since the 1040s, the highlands have been under the rule of various Turkic peoples and the Safavid dynasty, with pockets of Armenian autonomy in places such as Artsakh. Much of Eastern Armenia, which had been ruled by the Safavids from the 16th century, became part of the Russian Empire in 1828 and was later incorporated into the Soviet Union, while much of Western Armenia was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and later incorporated into Turkey. Today, the region is divided between Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.
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  • 07 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Aromatic Nitroderivatives
Aromatic nitroderivatives are compounds of considerable environmental concern, because some of them are phytotoxic (especially the nitrophenols, and particularly 2,4-dinitrophenol), others are mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic (e.g., the nitroderivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, such as 1-nitropyrene), and all of them absorb sunlight as components of the brown carbon. The latter has the potential to affect the climatic feedback of atmospheric aerosols. Most nitroderivatives are secondarily formed in the environment and, among their possible formation processes, photonitration upon irradiation of nitrate or nitrite is an important pathway that has periodically gained considerable attention. 
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  • 28 May 2021
Topic Review
Aromatic Water Pollutants
In recent years, the intensification of human activities including rapid urbanization, industrialization, population, and economic growth, led to an increase in waste production and energy demand. Most importantly such activities pose concerns for health, energy security and climate changes. Hazardous volatile organic compounds, VOC, and aromatic organic compounds, AOC, are being generated from the activities of many vital industries like mining and petrochemicals. They are instrumental in the economic growth of many countries and their products are regarded as privileges to modern communities. Nevertheless, they are toxic and carcinogenic thus, these wastes have been classified as “hazardous”. The simultaneous treatment of organic pollutants and energy recovery is an attractive solution to reduce pollution in water, air, and soil as well as provide alternative clean energy sources. Hydrogen could be generated from organic pollutants in water through photocatalysis. Photocatalysis refers to the oxidation and reduction, redox, reactions on semiconductor surfaces, mediated by the valence band holes and conduction band electrons, which are generated by the absorption of ultraviolet or visible light radiation. Compared to traditional oxidation processes, photocatalytic redox reaction operates at ambient conditions without a high temperature or high pressure, and many recalcitrant organic contaminants can be degraded without the addition of chemical oxidants, hence it is fully green process. Among the various photocatalysts, TiO2, as the most widely employed “golden” photocatalyst, has been largely used in photocatalysis, due to its chemical stability, nontoxicity, and low cost. In the last two decades, TiO2 photocatalysis has expanded very quickly, having undergone various development‐related energy issues and environmental issues, such as direct solar H2O splitting into H2 and the decomposition of pollutants in air and H2O at low concentrations. Although great progress has been made in TiO2 photocatalysis, much remains unknown, which raises an interesting challenge not only for engineers but also for basic scientists. a typical photocatalytic reaction in TiO2 photocatalysis contains many fundamental processes, including charge carrier formation, separation, relaxation, trapping, transfer, recombination, and transportation.
  • 1.9K
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
Arsenate Minerals
Arsenate minerals usually refer to the naturally occurring orthoarsenates, possessing the (AsO4)3− anion group and, more rarely, other arsenates with anions like AsO3(OH)2− (also written HAsO42−) (example: pharmacolite Ca(AsO3OH).2H2O) or (very rarely) [AsO2(OH)2]− (example: andyrobertsite). Arsenite minerals are much less common. Both the Dana and the Strunz mineral classifications place the arsenates in with the phosphate minerals. Example arsenate minerals include:
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  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review Video
Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater
At a great many locations worldwide, the safety of drinking water is endangered by pollution with arsenic. Arsenic toxicity is a matter of both systems chemistry and systems biology: it is determined by complex and intertwined networks of chemical reactions in the inanimate environment, in microbes in that environment, and in the human body.
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  • 31 Jan 2024
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