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The story of the Bicycle
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As people try to use less energy, and find alternatives to cars, more and more people are buying, and riding, bicycles. But where did the bicycle come from? Who invented this "velocipede"? .
You may be surprised to learn that the humble bicycle was invented several years later than the railway locomotive! But the two-wheeler has come a long way since the day it was invented by a Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick MacMillan, back (it is said) in 1839.
MacMillan developed his bike from an older wheeled vehicle, called a "hobby horse". This was a wooden horse with two wheels. The rider sat on the horse, and pushed the vehicle along with his feet. It was not a very fast or safe vehicle, since it had no steering and no brakes.
Living without Energy
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Most houses use energy - lots of it. We use energy for heating, lighting, for running our household appliances - TV's, washing machines, fridges, and so on. In winter time, most houses use dozens of kilowatts of electricity every day, or the equivalent in gas.
The house in the photo, on the other hand, uses virtually nothing: most of the energy that it uses comes straight from the sun, the wind or the ground. This is an experimental house at the University of Nottingham, and it could be the kind of house that most people are living in fifty years from now.
During the daytime, it is rarely necessary to turn on an electric light, even in rooms without windows. Sunlight, or daylight, is "piped" through the house, into each room, through special high-reflection aluminium tubes. You can see how well they reflect light, by looking at the reflections of the faces in the picture!
You can Learn Another Language!
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Learning a new language can take a long time. “Humility is essential”, says Georges. “When you are a new to the language, you must be willing to speak like (and in some respects, be treated like) a child”. The book “How to learn a Foreign Language” points out: “you have to let down some of your own self importance and your worries about dignity if you really want to make progress.” So don’t take yourself too seriously. “If you never make mistake, you are not using your new language enough.” Notes Ben.
Increase in the Price of Goods (BEP 2012)
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(BEP 2012: Informatique, Comptabilite, Stenodactylographe Correspondancier, Administration Commerciale Et Comptable)
The problem of price rise is a worldwide phenomenon. Prices of all articles have increased in all countries. The purchasing power of money has declined and is still declining. People are finding it hard to make both ends meet. The rich do not mind the rise in prices because they have money to buy anything at any price. The problem is more serious only in the case of the people of lower economic levels like mechanics, small traders etc. Their income has not increased in proportion to the increasing price. Before the Second World' War in the year 1938-39, one rupee could buy ten small cans of fine rice.
Agroforestry (Bac C-D 2012)
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(Bac C-D 2012)
Agroforestry, that is the cultivation of trees together with crops can help farmers cope with several of the adverse consequences of climate change. The world Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) has assessed the potential for Agroforestry to help adapt to climate change. Researchers have found that planting trees between crops and in the boundaries around crops can help prevent soil erosion, restore soil fertility, and provide shade for other crops.
Agroforestry also has the benefits of contributing to climate change mitigation, because trees and shrubs tend to sequester more carbon than other crops.
Wealth versus Poverty (BAC G1-G2-H 2012)
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(BAC G1-G2-H 2012)
Life for the lower class is very difficult and short. For this reason pitiless rich people might suppose that people in the lower social classes will be more self-interested and less inclined to consider the welfare of others than upper-class individuals, study, however, challenges this idea. Experiments by Paul Piff and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, reported this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggests precisely the opposite. It is the poor, not the rich, who are inclined to charity.