Pakicetus Facts and Figures

Pakicetus Facts and Figures Name: Pakicetus (Greek for Pakistan whale); pronounced PACK-ih-SEE-tuss Habitat: Shores of Pakistan and India Historical Epoch: Early Eocene (50 million years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet long and 50 pounds Diet: Fish Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; dog-like appearance; terrestrial lifestyle About Pakicetus If you happened to stumble across the small, dog-sized Pakicetus 50 million years ago, youd never have guessed that its descendants would one day include giant sperm whales and gray whales. As far as paleontologists can tell, this was the earliest of all the prehistoric whales, a tiny, terrestrial, four-footed mammal that ventured only occasionally into the water to nab fish (We know that Pakicetus was largely landbound because its ears werent well adapted to hearing underwater; in fact the structure of its inner ear is what gives it away as an early cetacean). Perhaps because even trained scientists have a hard time accepting a fully terrestrial mammal as the ancestor of all whales, for a while after its discovery in 1983, Pakicetus was described as having a semi-aquatic lifestyle. (Matters werent helped by a cover illustration on the journal Science, in which Pakicetus was depicted as a seal-like mammal diving after fish.) The discovery of a more complete skeleton in 2001 prompted a reconsideration, and today Pakicetus is deemed to have been fully terrestrial- in the words of one paleontologist, no more amphibious than a tapir. It was only over the course of the Eocene epoch that the descendants of Pakicetus began to evolve toward a semi-aquatic, and then fully aquatic, lifestyle, complete with flippers and thick, insulating layers of fat. One of the odd things about Pakicetus- which you can infer from its name- is that its type fossil was discovered in Pakistan, not normally a hotbed of paleontology. In fact, thanks to the vagaries of the fossilization process, most of what we know about early whale evolution derives from animals discovered on or near the Indian subcontinent; other examples include Ambulocetus (aka the walking whale) and Indohyus.

Strategies for Acing a Multiple Choice Test

Strategies for Acing a Multiple Choice Test We all have to study and take a multiple choice test at some point in our lives. Since these tests are so prevalent, its important to have a few strategies under our belts when we sit for the exams. Read below, because these multiple choice test tips are sure to help you get the score you need on whatever exam youre taking next. Multiple Choice Strategies Read the question while covering up the answer choices. Come up with an answer in your head, and then check to see if it’s one of the choices listed. Use a process of elimination to get rid of as many wrong choices as you can before answering a question. Wrong answers are often easier to find. Look for extremes like never only or â€Å"always. Look for opposites like a substitution of –1 for 1. Look for similarities like conjunctive for subjunctive. Those could be distractors.Physically cross off wrong answer choices so you are not tempted to go back at the end of the test and change your answer. Why? You will read more about trusting your gut in a minute.Read ALL the choices. The right answer may be the one you keep skipping. Many students, in an attempt to move quickly through the test, tend to skim answer choices instead of reading them thoroughly. Do not make that mistake!Cross off any answer that does not fit grammatically with the question on your multiple choice test. If the test blank is looking for a singular noun, for instance, then any question choice displaying a plural noun will be incorrect. If you struggle t o figure it out, then plug the answer choices into the problem to see if it works.   Take an educated guess if there is no guessing penalty like there used to be on the SAT. You will always get the answer wrong by skipping it. You at least have a shot if you answer the question.Look for wordy answers. Unless you’re taking a standardized test, the correct answer is often the choice with the most information. Teachers often have to put as much info down as possible to make sure the answer choice can’t be disputed.Remember that you’re looking for the best answer. Often, more than one answer choice will be technically correct on a  multiple choice test. So, you have to choose which one fits best  with the stem and in the context of the reading passage or test.Use your test booklet or scratch paper. It often helps to write as your work, so write down formulas and equations, solve math problems, outline, paraphrase and underline to help you read. Use the scratch paper to help you work things out logically.Pace yourself. If you get stuck on a questi on, circle it and move on. Come back at the end of the test so you don’t waste precious time on something you may not get right anyway. Trust your gut. Definitely go back through your test to make sure you’ve answered everything, but keep your answers the same unless you’ve discovered new information in a later part of the test to disprove your answer. Click the link for more details about this strategy!

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Supply chain management - Essay Example The supply chain is defined as the activities linked with the movement and alteration of commodities from the lowest stage to the consumer’s stage. Supply chain does not have much difference hence this made the organizations start the tendency of depending fully on suppliers to enable them execute their duties efficiently. However, any organization can fit to be part of supply chain. Supply chain management needs a clear management hard work by the involved organizations in supply chain. For supply chain management to be successful, the companies involved must implement on the enterprise-to-enterprise perception (Mentzer, 2001). Top management is the most significant constituents when one or many companies is attempting to inject a new idea in the market, for example, a new product or a program. Because top management are essential in SCM and they have the ability to identify crucial resources that fit supply chain ventures, due to these, the company has the power to restructure and create policies to help both organizational objectives. Recent research specified that top management often acknowledge the existence of SCM, and the commitment features only once in three organizations. Hesitation to SCM commitment may arise when the top management uncomfortable with its client’s strength in the supply chain, these factors lead to their success in the market. What creates these difficulties are the challenges in global supply chain which include economic differences, technological differences, cultural, logistical and spatial differences, these factors have their different impacts hence globalization supply facing difficulties. For instance, global supply chain expounds into longer and are more unpredictable, there might be delays during shipment, which creates increment of the client’s demand, for example, what

Women and Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women and Film - Essay Example There are several deliberations of how female characters are being depicted in the films. Currently, they have begun assuming more dominant roles in films. Some male film directors use female characters only to provide something against which to express masculinity to male relationships. They are self reflexive for men who design them, as they mostly act as mere guardian spirit for a male protagonist. Often times, they exist as characters to push the storyline along and create some balance instead of getting up on feet on their own. For instance, in Japanese video games Persona 3 where they overtly rent women to draw up the female characters. But this may not be the case for all male filmmakers. For instance, when watching Les Rendezvous D’Anna, you could not imagine a male director design such a female protagonist (Grundmann, 2010). The general observation on female film producers observes women characters for their own interest instead of being a channel to an ideological en d. Female characters designed by women may have scanty clothes that tend to be more real and relaxed looking. They also have petite eyes, sexy features with a maturity on facial expressions. There are fewer women that design action-based films or movies. They mostly make dramatic, comedic, films related to family stories and others that lean more towards an emotional arc. This may be as a result of having little attention on the action-oriented films or the postulation that the target audience wouldn’t put so much interest in them (Walsh, 1986). There is also the issue of the deepness and vigor of female character. One may ascertain the director, but there is also the genre, writer and actress to consider in such cases. Many films made by women have a more exhaustive evaluation of character that is notwithstanding the gender of the directors. In the same way, there are actresses and writers who can yield more dense characters than customary. For instance, Barbara Stanwyck har dly inhabits a character that is not considerably well grasped irrespective of the script or director. The issue involving Godard stretches beyond him as you will find some directors such as Joseph Mankewiecz making films where the actresses appears far more authentic and vivacious than the males. In spite of the themes of the film, they have an unattractive meaning linked to the women’s actions (Callahan, 2012). Other male directors seem to introduce depth in the roles of women. However, that raises eyebrows as to whether those roles are being viewed as another category of male illusion or imaginations. One that originates from a diverse and good direction yet still somehow off the mark likened to the exact experiences of women. The feminist movement relentlessly battled for women’s rights and equality so as to position women on equal grounds to men in the society. This uprising has since been taken forward in the film industry as women also play prominent and conspic uous roles in films. This which was a sharp disparity in the past where women only played domestic roles in the society (Callahan, 2012). At the same time, there are some films that portray women as morally superior and perfect. Dreyer’s Gertrud is an example of such films that convey strength, liberation and empowerment of women. We also have sturdy, irrepressible, self-determining and plausible women in so many films directed by men. This is without indulging in either male fantasies of femaleness or direct sexual appeal (Power, 2009). The role of women in films has since surpassed the traditional feminine characteristics. Women are no longer being portrayed as one-facet who acts stereotypical female traits. In addition, today men are unlikely to measure up to the conventional form of masculinity though they may still

All the Worlds a Stage by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

All the Worlds a Stage by William Shakespeare Essay â€Å"All The World’s a Stage† by William Shakespeare is a short poem comparing our lives and the many stages we have to a theatrical play and the many rolls an actor plays in them. William Shakespeare identifies the seven stages a person goes through in life. Infancy, the stage where he is a baby introduced to the world, crying and puking in the nurse’s arms. Childhood, this is the stage where he is growing up and starting school with no enthusiasm. The lover, this is the stage where he has a mistress and falls in love with her, while he tries to sing her a song he can’t look into her eyes because he’s so shy. The soldier is when he tries to keep his reputation thinking less of himself and more of others, and always being ready to fight. The justice stage is where he has gained wisdom and prosperity by the many experiences he had in life. The old age stage is when he begins to lose his charm physically and mentally, he also loses his firmness and personality. Finally, physical and mental lose and death, he begins to become dependent on others like a child and needs constant help from others to perform any tasks; he slowly loses his teeth, eyesight, and taste, until he finally dies. In this paper I will analyze the way William Shakespeare compares a person’s life and its many stages to a theatrical stage and the many rolls and actor performs, his tone, how he uses explicit details, imagery, repetition, consonance, and any other figurative language he uses in this poem. Tone The tone in this poem in my opinion is that William Shakespeare feels as if everyone ends up the way people do just because we all go through life as if we were actors on a stage reading a script knowing every step to take till the very end. He is accepting of death, he knows that everyone goes through every single stage of life assuming they know what do to do next, but no one really does. I came to this conclusion because Shakespeare shows no type of anger or excitement throughout the poem. He is neutral; he is neither afraid of death nor excited about it. He feels as if everyone has a purpose in life and to find that purpose you have to go through every stage. It doesn’t matter how confident you are, how hard you try, or how fast you get through each stage, everyone will always end the same way, dying. Shakespeare knows you cannot skip this part of life no matter who you are. One can only enjoy the time you have and wait for your time to come. He understands no one’s life is fully complete until you go through your final stage of life and die. Imagery William Shakespeare uses a lot of very strong visual imagery though out his poem. In line 7-9 one can visualize a little boy in the morning, tired and very slowly dragging himself to school with his satchel, when he says â€Å"the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school. † Another sense of strong imagery is in line 5-6, when he says â€Å"at first, the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. † In this line one can easily picture a nurse holding a baby who just came into this world for the first time, whining, squirming, and puking in her arms. In line 9-11 William Shakespeare says â€Å"the lover sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow. † Here he explains that the lover wrote his mistress a song like poem to express his love to her, but his too shy to look her in the eyes while he sings to her. William Shakespeare uses the entire poem â€Å"All the World’s a Stage† as a metaphor to compare the stages of life to a theatrical stage. He explains how the rolls we play throughout our lives are like the rolls an actor plays on stage. He makes sure to say that no one is ever the same person their entire life, just as an actor doesn’t stay the same throughout a play. William Shakespeare uses strong imagery and metaphor in the poem for us to picture images every stage and how we change all throughout them as we read. Sound Sound is a very big part of this poem, because he uses a specific structure, some rhyme and repetition. The structure of this poem is very important because each stage is in order. He goes from infant, to schoolboy, to lover, to soldier, to justice, to old age, and finally death. For one’s life to start you must be born into this world as an infant; then you slowly grow into a schoolboy, become a lover and then a soldier trying to keep your reputation. You gain wisdom and justice and then you grow into old age where you lose your appearance physically and mentally. Lastly you become dependent on others and eventually your life is over. This poem also has some rhyme in it but not much. You will not find rhyme in the same line. In line 7 he uses the word â€Å"whining† and in line 8 he uses the word â€Å"shining† to describe the schoolboy, which both words rhyme with each other. He doesn’t feel the need to have to rhyme so much in this poem for one to fully understand the metaphor he is conveying. He also uses repetition in the last line of the poem. As he says â€Å"sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything† he repeats â€Å"sans† to let you know he has lost his teeth, eyes, taste, everything as he dies. Theme The theme to â€Å"All the World’s a Stage† in my opinion is live life to the fullest with no regrets. Everyone should have their own life, and do their own thing. No one should have the same routine every single day, that’s boring. Be spontaneous, do things you’d never imagine doing. You’d be surprised at the many things one can do in this world at any age; we just have to be willing to leave our comfort zone and let loose. One should not let another person take over their life for any reason. We should have control of it, and be able to do what we want when we want, and not have to ask for permission. Not everyone goes through each stage of life at the same time, it shouldn’t matter how old one is. One should always have time to laugh and have a good time at any time no matter what. In this poem it is very clear that William Shakespeare wants you to understand how one goes through life. One usually goes through life making choices behind choices, living off your decisions and its consequences. We each have our own routine we follow day by day, even if we don’t always notice it. It’s as if were a character in a play and we follow a script we memorize every day, until something unexpected happens and our role changes. We have to accommodate the new situation into our schedule and try to make it work. We also have time to squeeze in some fun and live. We tend to surprise ourselves from time to time to shake up our lives a little. If you go through your whole life thinking â€Å"what if† isn’t healthy, you need to take a risk and throw yourself out there. Have fun and live your life while you still have it.

Hippy Movement :: essays research papers

Hippy Movement Through out history the world has seen some generations that have made an impact more than all of its predecessors. The decade from1960 to 1970 was definitely one of those eras. The people didn't follow the teachings of its elders, but rejected them for an alternative culture which was their very own(Harris 14). Made up of the younger population of the time this new culture was such a radical society that they were given their own name which is still used today. They came to be called the Hippies. The Hippie movement started in San Francisco, California and spread across the United States, through Canada, and into parts of Europe (World Book). But it had its greatest influence in America. During the 1960's a radical group called the Hippies shocked America with their alternative lifestyle and radical beliefs. Hippies came from many different places and had many different backgrounds. All Hippies were young, from the ages of 15 to 25 (Worldbook). They left their families and did it for many different reasons. Some rejected their parents' ideas, some just wanted to get away, and others simply were outcasts, who could only fit in with the Hippie population. "Under 25 became a magical age, and young people all over the world were united by this bond" (Harris 15). This bond was of Non-conformity and it was the "Creed of the Young" (Harris 15). Most Hippies came from wealthy middle class families. Some people said that they were spoiled and wasting their lives away. But to Hippies themselves this was a way of life and no one was going to get in the way of their dreams and ambitions. Hippies flocked to a certain area of San Francisco on the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, where the world got their first view of this unique group. This place came to be known as the Haight Ashbury District. There were tours of the district and it was said that the tour "was the only foreign tour within the continental limits of the United States" (Stern 147). The Hippies were so different that the conservative middle class could not relate to them and saw them as aliens. The Haight Ashbury district lies in the very center of San Francisco. In the years of 1965 and 1966 the Hippies took over the Haight Ashbury district(Cavan 49). There they lived and spread their

Mary Shelley & ‘Frankenstein’ Essay

â€Å"How do the themes explored by Mary Shelley in ‘Frankenstein’ relate to a modern audience? † The beginning of civilisation brought the evidential classification of people as insiders and outsiders in any close society, due to the narrow stereotypical minds of the masses and often the simplistic facts of life. People are separated from the rest of the community as a result of perhaps their physical appearance or a difference in their personality. Stereotypical idols in today’s society are greatly influential; we are quick to identify faults in others and use this excuse to ostracise them from the world and ourselves. Mary Shelley embodies this ‘outsider’ through the monster that Frankenstein creates. He is isolated and rejected by everyone, so we are made to empathise with him; human beings have a natural instinct to do this, so the text is universalised. Ironically, at times the monster is more humane than those who consider themselves human, those who consider themselves ‘insiders’, opposed to the monster- an outsider. This novel opens on a personal note, Shelley uses the device of letters as a hook to draw in the reader; an invasion of privacy universalises the thoughts on paper, like reading someone else’s diary. This makes it easier for us to empathise to Captain Walton and subsequently Victor Frankenstein, who is very similar in many aspects to him. These two strong male characters are romanticised by Shelley make them easier to relate to in a modern audience, because they far more believable with multi- faceted personalities. They are romantic anti- heroes; their ambition intrigues us and we are able to identify with them and their achievements. The letters are deliberately left without an exact date, so as to not only create a sense of mystery but to also ensure that the story isn’t concreted to a specific era, as it relates more to society as a whole rather than a period of time. Shelley uses a high diction style of writing, which is littered with emotive adjectives to prevent it becoming stagnated and boring for the audience. The information is given to us little at a time to arouse our curiosity and make us read further into the book, where crescendos are commonly used after a more mundane part of the story, so the excitement peaks and falls throughout. An example of this is when the monster is first sighted in letter 4 where there is a dramatic climax before he disappears from view, leaving the audience in doubt of what will happen next. A prominent theme in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is one of an idealistic world. Victor idealises his family, like a fairytale, too good to be true in reality, which it seems he wants to escape as he knows his family are far from perfect, and a good example of this is portrayed in the quote; â€Å"There was a considerable difference between ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them closer in the bonds of devoted affection. † (Ch1, pg33, line7)