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Daniel L. Sanchez & Daniel M. Kammen

Removing Harmful Greenhouse Gases from the Air Using Energy from Plants

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2015.00014

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However, too much of CO2 in our air can be a bad thing. Humans are responsible for producing large amounts of CO2. Every day we use fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, or natural gas, which we find deep underground in solid, liquid, or gas forms) in our cars or power plants, or we cut down forests. All these activities combined have caused the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere to increase to levels not seen on earth in 55 million years. This increase in greenhouse gases heats the earth. The increase in temperature causes climate change, which is a change in average worldwide or regional weather patterns. Scientists project that climate change will cause a rise in sea level, more intense heat waves, extreme weather, species extinction, and other negative impacts on our world. Luckily, there are several steps that we can take to reduce the impacts of future climate change. Scientists generally divide these helpful actions (known as "climate change mitigation") into three categories: reducing CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions (the release of these gases into the atmosphere), reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth's surface, or removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Claude A. Labelle

The Ranger Boys and the Border Smugglers

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25514/25514-h/25514-h.htm

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The boys left the capitol and made their way down the long hill to the main business part of the town. As they struck onto the main business street, Garry noticed the familiar blue bell sign of the telephone company. "Say, boys, I have an idea. Let's stop in here and put in long distance calls and say hello to our folks. How does the idea strike you?" said Garry, almost in one breath. "Ripping," shouted Phil, while Dick didn't wait to make any remark, but dived in through the door, and in a trice was putting in his call. Phil followed suit, while Garry waited, as he would talk when Dick had finished. This pleasant duty done, they went to a restaurant for dinner. Here they attracted no little attention, for their khaki clothes looked almost like uniforms. Added to this was the fact that they wore forest shoepacks, those high laced moccasins with an extra leather sole, and felt campaign hats.

L. Frank Baum

The Lost Princess of Oz

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24459/24459-h/24459-h.htm

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It was Dorothy who first discovered it. Dorothy was a little Kansas girl who had come to the Land of Oz to live and had been given a delightful suite of rooms in Ozma's royal palace, just because Ozma loved Dorothy and wanted her to live as near her as possible, so the two girls might be much together. Dorothy was not the only girl from the outside world who had been welcomed to Oz and lived in the royal palace. There was another named Betsy Bobbin, whose adventures had led her to seek refuge with Ozma, and still another named Trot, who had been invited, together with her faithful companion, Cap'n Bill, to make her home in this wonderful fairyland. The three girls all had rooms in the palace and were great chums; but Dorothy was the dearest friend of their gracious Ruler and only she at any hour dared to seek Ozma in her royal apartments. For Dorothy had lived in Oz much longer than the other girls and had been made a Princess of the realm.

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THE RAPHAEL CELEBRATION AT ROME

Scientific American Supplement, No. 385

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8950/8950-h/8950-h.htm

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This ceremony at the Pantheon was concluded by all visitors writing their names on two albums which had been placed near Victor Emmanuel's tomb and Raphael's tomb. The commemoration in the hall of the Horatii and Curiatii in the Capitol was a great success, their Majesties, the Ministers, the members of the diplomatic body, and a distinguished assembly being present. Signor Quirino Leoni read an admirable discourse on Raphael and his times. The ancient city of Urbino, Raphael's birthplace, has fallen into decay, but has remembered its historic renown upon this occasion. The representatives of the Government and municipal authorities, and delegates of the leading Italian cities went in procession to visit the house where Raphael was born. Commemoration speeches were pronounced in the great hall of the ducal palace by Signor Minghetti and Senator Massarani. The commemoration ended with a cantata composed by Signor Rossi. The Via Raffaelle was illuminated in the evening, and a gala spectacle was given at the Sanzio Theater. Next day the exhibition of designs for a monument to Raphael was inaugurated at Urbino, and at night a great torchlight procession took place.

Henry Augustin Beers

Initial Studies in American Letters

http://www.online-literature.com/henry-augustin-beers/studies-american-letters/1/

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Now and then there are truths of a higher kind than these in Franklin, and Sainte-Beuve, the great French critic, quotes, as an example of his occasional finer moods, the saying, "Truth and sincerity have a certain distinguishing native luster about them which cannot be counterfeited; they are like fire and flame that cannot be painted." But the sage who invented the Franklin stove had no disdain of small utilities; and in general the last word of his philosophy is well expressed in a passage of his Autobiography: "Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune, that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day; thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas."

Jon Brock & Paul Sowman

Meg for Kids: Listening to Your Brain with Super-Cool SQUIDs

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2014.00010

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Inside your brain, you have over 80 billion neurons – tiny brain cells, all working together to make you the person you are. Neurons talk to each other by sending electrical messages. Each message creates a tiny magnetic field. If enough neurons are talking together, we can listen in on their conversations by measuring the magnetic field around your head. We call this MEG, which stands for magnetoencephalography (mag-netto-en-keffa-logra-fee). In our everyday lives, we are surrounded by magnetic fields, coming from computers, mobile phones, and even from the earth itself. Our brain's magnetic fields are tiny in comparison. Listening in on your neurons is like trying to hear the footsteps of an ant – in the middle of a rock concert! For this reason, MEG machines have to be in a special room with thick metal walls that stop all the other magnetic fields getting in.

Howard Pyle

Wise Catherine and the Kaboutermanneken

St. Nicholas Magazine Volume 5 No. 6

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23926/23926-h/23926-h.htm#WISE

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When Catherine, that cold morning, inspected the woeful emptiness of the cupboard, she wrung her cold blue hands in despair; but, wring her poor little hands ever so much, she could not squeeze good bread and meat out of them; something must be done, and that immediately, if she would save the children from starving. At length she bethought herself that many rich people of Kaboutermannekensburg were fond of burning pine-cones instead of rough logs, not only on account of the bright, warm and crackling fire they produced, but also because of the sweet resinous odor that they threw out, filling the house with a perfume like that which arose from the censers in the cathedral. It was woeful weather for Catherine to go hunting for pine-cones. The snow lay a good foot deep over the glossy brown treasures, and she herself was but thinly clad; yet the children must have bread. Not having eaten any breakfast that morning, she slipped the remnant of the loaf into the basket to serve as lunch, and then started to face the wind toward the forest.

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SUNLIGHT AND SKYLIGHT AT HIGH ALTITUDES.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 363

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8452/8452-h/8452-h.htm

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Prof. Langley, following Capt. Abney, observed: The very remarkable paper just read by Captain Abney has already brought information upon some points which the one I am about, by the courtesy of the Association, to present, leaves in doubt. It will be understood then that the references here are to his published memoirs only, and not to what we have just heard. The solar spectrum is so commonly composed to have been mapped with completeness, that the statement that much more than one-half its extent is not only unmapped but nearly unknown, may excite surprise. This statement is, however, I think, quite within the truth, as to that almost unexplored region discovered by the elder Herschel, which, lying below the red and invisible to the eye, is so compressed by the prism that, though its aggregate heat effects have been studied through the thermopile, it is only by the recent researches of Capt. Abney that we have any certain knowledge of the lines of absorption there, even in part.

L. P. A.

THE PRISONER

The Nursery, April 1873, Vol. XIII. A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24477/24477-h/24477-h.htm#Page_99

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Papa, robed in his dressing-gown, took the chair; Eva was placed in front; Ernest stood on the right hand, and Jessie on the left. The chairman then told the children how much work they made mamma, and proposed a rule—that no more food should be brought into the sitting-room. All who were in favor of such a rule were requested to vote for it by raising their hands. Each of the children raised a hand; and fat little Jessie raised both of hers as high as she could. So the vote was passed. Then papa said that a rule was good for nothing unless there was a penalty with it. So he made Eva judge, and asked her what the punishment should be for breaking the rule. "I think," said she, "the first one that spoils the rule should be shut up in jail five minutes."

Edric Vredenburg

TUFTY RIQUET

My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15145/15145-h/15145-h.htm#page117

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There was once upon a time a Queen who had the ugliest little baby imaginable, so ugly, indeed, that it was almost impossible to believe he was a little boy at all. A fairy, however, assured his mother that the little baby would be very good and clever, saying that she was also giving him a gift which would enable him to make that person whom he loved the best as clever as himself. This somewhat consoled the Queen, but still she was very unhappy because her son was so ugly, though no sooner had he begun to speak than he could talk about all sorts of things, and he had such pretty ways that people were charmed with him. I forgot to say, that, when he was quite a baby, he had a funny little tuft of hair on his head, so he was called Tufty Riquet, for Riquet was the family name.

S. B. T.

THE GRANDPA STORY

The Nursery, February 1873, Vol. XIII. A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24475/24475-h/24475-h.htm#Page_42

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One bright Monday morning, I looked out of the front-window, and said, "Why, Harry, Uncle David has come to town! He is tying his horse under the elm-tree." A minute after, Uncle David opened the door into the sitting-room, and said, "Is there any one here who would like to go out to grandpa's today?" And mamma spoke right up, and said, "We would all like to go. It will do my little lads good to have a nice ride." "Get ready quick, then," said Uncle David. So mamma put a little blue cloak and a white sun-bonnet on Freddy the baby, and a linen coat, and straw hat with blue ribbons on Harry; and they all went out, and got into the carriage. Then away they rode through the pretty streets, and over a covered bridge, where the horse went trot, trot, trot. Then they crossed a railroad-track, and drove past a station, and stopped at a store; and Uncle David went in and bought a great box of sugar for Aunt Mattie, and a little bag of candy to carry home to his little boy Philly.

Katherine Mansfield

The Garden-Party

The Garden Party, and Other Stories

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1429/1429-h/1429-h.htm

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But Meg could not possibly go and supervise the men. She had washed her hair before breakfast, and she sat drinking her coffee in a green turban, with a dark wet curl stamped on each cheek. Jose, the butterfly, always came down in a silk petticoat and a kimono jacket. "You'll have to go, Laura; you're the artistic one." Away Laura flew, still holding her piece of bread-and-butter. It's so delicious to have an excuse for eating out of doors, and besides, she loved having to arrange things; she always felt she could do it so much better than anybody else. Four men in their shirtsleeves stood grouped together on the garden path. They carried staves covered with rolls of canvas, and they had big tool-bags slung on their backs. They looked impressive. Laura wished now that she had not got the bread-and-butter, but there was nowhere to put it, and she couldn't possibly throw it away. She blushed and tried to look severe and even a little bit short-sighted as she came up to them.

Joseph Conrad

Excerpt from Heart of Darkness

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-heart-of-darkness

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He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea." The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them — the ship; and so is their country — the sea. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. For the rest, after his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing.

President Richard M. Nixon

Richard Nixon’s Resignation Speech

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/richard-nixon-s-resignation-speech

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Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere — to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion; that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process, and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served. And there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged. I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interests of the nation must always come before any personal considerations.

H. Jay

Detection of Alcohol in Transparent Soaps

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8391/8391-h/8391-h.htm#5

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It appears that every article manufactured with the aid of alcohol is required on its introduction into France to pay duty on the supposed quantity of this reagent which has been used in its preparation. Certain transparent soaps of German origin are now met with, made, as is alleged, without alcohol, and the author proposes the following process for verifying this statement by ascertaining--the presence or absence of alcohol in the manufactured article: 50 grms. of soap are cut into very small pieces and placed in a phial of 200 c.c. capacity; 30 grms. sulphuric acid are then added, and the phial is stoppered and agitated till the soap is entirely dissolved. The phial is then filled up with water, and the fatty acids are allowed to collect and solidify. The subnatant liquid is drawn off, neutralized, and distilled. The first 25 c.c. are collected, filtered, and mixed, according to the process of MM. Riche and Bardy for the detection of alcohol in commercial methylenes, with ½ c.c. sulphuric acid at 18° B., then with the same volume of permanganate (15 grms. per liter), and allowed to stand for one minute.

W. S. Karajich

THE EMPEROR TROJAN'S GOAT'S EARS

The Junior Classics, Volume 1

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152-images.html

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There once lived an emperor whose name was Trojan. This emperor had goat's ears, and he used to call in barber after barber to shave him. But whoever went in never came out again; for while the barber was shaving him, the emperor would ask what he observed uncommon in him, and when the barber would answer that he observed his goat's ears, the Emperor would immediately be mad at him. At last it came to the turn of a certain barber to go who feigned illness, and sent his apprentice instead. When the apprentice appeared before the emperor he was asked why his master did not come, and he answered, "Because he is ill." Then the emperor sat down, and allowed the youth to shave him. As he shaved him the apprentice noticed the emperor's goat's ears, but when Trojan asked him what he had observed, he answered, "I have observed nothing." Then the emperor gave him twelve ducats, and said to him, "From this time forth you shall always come and shave me."

Margery Williams

The Velveteen Rabbit

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11757/11757-h/11757-h.htm

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For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government.

wikipedia

Fossil_fuel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

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Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Other commonly used derivatives include kerosene and propane. Fossil fuels range from volatile materials with low carbon to hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquids like petroleum, to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal. Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields either alone, associated with oil, or in the form of methane clathrates. The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Georgius Agricola in 1556 and later by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century.

Nathaniel Bivan

Flower blind

African Storybook Level 2

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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One day, Chat was strolling in the garden. She liked the sweet scent of flowers. She loved to touch their soft petals. Chat wished she could see flowers, just once. "They are lovely," she said to herself. Every day, Chat walked in the garden. She knew her way around. Today, she raised her head to the skies. Suddenly, she heard thunder and lightning. "I need to hurry back to the house," Chat thought. Rain began to fall. Chat slipped, lost her balance and fell. She hit her head on a stone. When Chat woke up, there were people around her. "What happened?" she asked. "You fell and bumped your head," her father said. "Thank God you are fine," said her mother. "Daddy, mummy?" asked Chat. She also called the names of her brothers and sisters. "Please, get me a flower." Everyone was surprised. Her sister returned with a flower. Chat held it gently. "It is so lovely," she said. Her family looked at one another. "Chat, can you see the flower?" her mother asked. Chat played with the flower in her hand. "You are all so beautiful, just like this flower," she smiled.

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A NEW ENEMY OF THE BEE

Scientific American Supplement No. 417

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9163/9163-h/9163-h.htm#17

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"During the last spring a lady bee-keeper of Connecticut discovered these mites in her hives while investigating to learn the cause of their rapid depletion. She had noticed that the colonies were greatly reduced in number of bees, and upon close observation found that the diseased or failing colonies were covered with the mites. So small are these pests that a score of them can take possession of a single bee and not be crowded for room either. The lady states that the bees roll and scratch in their vain attempts to rid themselves of these annoying stick-tights, and finally, worried out, fall to the bottom of the hive, or go forth to die on the outside. Mites are not true insects, but are the most degraded of spiders. The sub-class Arachnida are at once recognized by their eight legs.

Alisha Berger

Chunu & Munu: The Corn Is Yummy!

https://www.digitallibrary.io/en/books/details/3839

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Chunu and Munu are walking. They reach the corn field. Their daddy is in the field. He is sowing corn. "Can we help you?" the girls ask. Father looks at Chunu. Then he looks at Munu. "Okay," Daddy says. "Come and help me." Chunu and Munu are happy. They water the corn. Weeks later, the corn begins to sprout. The girls cheer and smile. They weed the corn. It is growing so well! A few weeks later... Chunu says, "Look at the weeds!" Munu says, "Look at the grass." Chunu pulls out the weeds. Munu pulls out the grass. The corn crop is happy. Chunu picks the cobs. Munu puts them in a basket. The basket is full of corn! The girls carry it all the way home. Daddy roasts the corn. Chunu and Munu eat it happily. Chunu and Munu cheer, "The corn is yummy. Very yummy!"

wikijunior

Anials

Wikijunior

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Biology/Kingdoms/Animals

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Animals are made of many cells. They eat things and digest them inside. Most animals can move. Only animals have brains (though not even all animals do; jellyfish, for example, do not have brains). Animals are found all over the earth. They dig in the ground, swim in the oceans, and fly in the sky. Humans are a type of animal. So are dogs, cats, cows, horses, frogs, fish, and so on and on. Animals can be divided into two main groups, vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates can be further divided into mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Invertebrates can be divided into arthropods (like insects, spiders, and crabs), mollusks, sponges, several different kinds of worms, jellyfish — and quite a few other subgroups. There are at least thirty kinds of invertebrates, compared to the five kinds of vertebrates. Vertebrates have a backbone, while invertebrates do not.

Captain Mayne Reid

The Cliff Climbers A Sequel to "The Plant Hunters"

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21239/21239-h/21239-h.htm

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It is true that, to a traveller approaching the Himalayas from any part of the great plain of India, these mountains present the appearance of a single range, stretching continuously along the horizon from east to west. This, however, is a mere optical illusion; and, instead of one range, the Himalayas may be regarded as a congeries of mountain ridges, covering a superficies of 200,000 square miles, and running in as many different directions as there are points in the compass. Within the circumference of this vast mountain tract there is great variety of climate, soil, and productions. Among the lower hills—those contiguous to the plains of India—as well as in some of the more profound valleys of the interior—the flora is of a tropical or subtropical character. The palm, the tree fern, and bamboo here flourish in free luxuriance. Higher up appears the vegetation of the temperate zone, represented by forests of gigantic oaks of various species, by sycamores, pines, walnut, and chestnut trees. Still higher are the rhododendrons, the birches, and heaths; succeeded by a region of herbaceous vegetation—by slopes, and even table-plains, covered with rich grasses.

Arthur Scott Bailey

The Tale of Snowball Lamb

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24592/24592-h/24592-h.htm

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In the same pasture with Snowball was a black lamb. He was the black lamb that Farmer Green once gave to Johnnie for a pet. But he ran away up the lane the very first time Johnnie tried to hold him in his arms. After that the black lamb had always stayed with the flock. He was a wild, unruly fellow, bigger and older than Snowball. And he was quite outspoken—and not always careful of his language. This black lamb chanced to be near Snowball when Johnnie Green came into the pasture on a certain fine morning. And when Johnnie began calling to Snowball the black lamb said, "Why don't you run the other way? That's what I always do when boys call me." Snowball made no answer. He stood and looked at Johnnie Green, who was walking towards him with outstretched hand. "Come on!" cried the black lamb. "I'll run with you." "No!" said Snowball. "Johnnie may have something good for me to eat. Some salt, maybe!"

Laura Lee Hope

Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17761/17761-h/17761-h.htm

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"Now you must all eat good breakfasts," said Grandma Ford, as the six little Bunkers came trooping downstairs in answer to their father's call. "Eat plenty of buckwheat cakes and maple syrup, so you will not be cold and hungry when you go out on the ice to skate." Russ, Laddie and the others needed no second invitation, and soon there was a rattle of knives, forks and spoons that told of hungry children eating heartily. The house at Great Hedge was warm and cosy, and the smell of the bacon, the buckwheat cakes and the maple syrup would have made almost any one hungry. "Are we all going out skating?" asked Rose, as she ate her last cake. "Yes, I'll take you all," said Daddy Bunker. "Dick went over to the pond, and he says the ice is fine. It's smooth and hard." "Is it strong enough to hold?" asked Mother Bunker. "I don't want any of my six little Bunkers falling through the ice."

G. Harvey Ralphson

Boy Scouts in Southern Waters

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13859/13859-h/13859-h.htm

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Four boys were standing in the pilot house of a sturdily built and splendidly equipped motor boat that was being rolled and tossed by the, waves driven from the Gulf of Mexico before a southerly wind. Great banks of fog were rolling inland before the wind--fog so thick it was scarcely possible to see a boat's length ahead. The boys were all dressed in suits of oil skins under which might have been seen neat khaki Boy Scout Uniforms. If their jackets had been exposed one might have distinguished medals that betokened membership in the Beaver Patrol, Boy Scouts of America. Other insignia indicated to the initiated that the boys had won distinction and were entitled to the honors in Seamanship, Life Saving, Stalking and Signaling. On the jacket of the one addressed as "Jack" were insignia that betokened his rank as Scout Master and also as Star Scout. These had been won by sheer merit. All four were manly young fellows of about seventeen and, though young, their faces gave evidence of alert natures thoroughly reliable and ready for any emergency.

Emily G. Jacobs

Why Neuroscience Needs Girls: Gender Diversity Drives Scientific Discovery

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00037

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A century ago, professional scientists were mostly men. Women were working hard just to gain equal access to education. A famous photograph taken in 1927 shows a meeting of the world's top scientists of that era. The picture shows scientific super-stars like Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger, whose research shaped the world we live in. Of the 29 attendees, 28 were men of European origin. Marie Curie, a pioneering scientist who worked in physics and chemistry and won two Nobel prizes, was the only woman in attendance. Although these scientists compiled an incredible list of scientific achievements, one can only imagine how much more would have been accomplished had women and ethnic minorities been allowed greater access to their ranks. As the historian of science Steven Jay Gould said, "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."

Indian Folktale

The Seventh Sun: A Tribal Tale From Odisha, India

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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Now, with the suns gone, there was darkness everywhere. The deer could not see the tigers. The elephants bumped into trees. The rabbits walked over the lions and there was confusion all around. To find a solution, the animals decided to have a meeting. A rabbit told them about one of the seven suns who was still alive and hiding behind a hill. But who would be the best one to call back the sun? "I will call out to the sun," said the lion, for he was the king of the forest. "Sun, sun, please do not run away. Come back and shine on us," roared the lion. But the sun did not listen to him. The elephant called out next. He raised his trunk and trumpeted, "Sun, sun, please come back." But the sun did not listen to him. The peacock danced and pleaded, "Sun, sun, please come back." But the sun refused to come out. One after the other, all the animals called out to the sun.

Mango Tree

Waiting for the bus

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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More people came to the bus stop just before 9am. Half an hour later they are all still waiting. Sam is worried. "Maybe the bus broke down," he thinks. "Maybe we won't go to town today. Maybe I won't get my new school uniform." At 9:45am some people give up and go home. Sam starts to cry. "We will wait a bit longer," says his mother. Suddenly, they hear a noise. The bus is coming! The bus arrives at the stop at 10 o'clock. "Get in! Get in!" calls the driver. "We are very late today!" People get on the bus and sit down. The bus leaves the stop at 10:10am. "What time is the return bus this afternoon?" asks Sam's mother. "The blue bus leaves town at 2:30pm," replies the driver. Sam thinks, "We will get to town at 11 o'clock." "How much time will we have in town before the return bus?" wonders Sam.

Louisa M. Alcott.

A Little Lady

De La Salle Fifth Reader

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10811/10811-h/10811-h.htm

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Going down a very steep street, where the pavement was covered with ice, I saw before me an old woman, slowly and timidly picking her way. She was one of the poor but respectable old ladies who dress in rusty black, wear old fashioned bonnets, and carry big bags. Some young folks laugh at these antiquated figures; but those who are better bred treat them with respect. They find something touching in the faded suits, the withered faces, and the knowledge that these lonely old ladies have lost youth, friends, and often fortune, and are patiently waiting to be called away from a world that seems to have passed by and forgotten them. Well, as I slipped and shuffled along, I watched the little black bonnet in front, expecting every minute to see it go down, and trying to hurry, that I might offer my help. At the corner, I passed three little school girls, and heard one say to another, "O, I wouldn't; she will do well enough, and we shall lose our coasting, unless we hurry."

Commonwealth of Learning

Geography Grade 12 - Nambia

https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Geography12-Namibia-FKB.pdf

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If you travel from one place to another in your country, you might see physical features such as hills, mountains, valleys and lakes. In order to understand fully the features that we find on the earth surface, it is important to know what is inside the earth. What we know of the interior of the earth is related to what we can see at the earth surface. We get information about the interior of the earth from such things as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and from deep mines. For instance, people who work in deep mines, like the gold mines in South Africa, have noted that temperatures underground are higher than temperatures on the ground surface. You have probably seen a model of the earth called a globe. The earth is shaped like a sphere, a round shape that is slightly flattened at the poles. A cut through the earth will show three circular layers called the crust, the mantle and the core. The distance from the surface of the earth to its inner most center is about 6400 kilometers. As we go deeper and deeper into the earth, the temperature and pressure increase.

Edwin L. Sabin

Pluck on the Long Trail Boy Scouts in the Rockies

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20710/20710-h/20710-h.htm

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We must have been squatting for an hour and a half, and the sun was down close to the top of the draw, behind us, when Fitzpatrick nudged me with his foot, and nodded. He made the sign of birds flying up and pointed down the trail, below, us; so that I knew somebody was coming, around a turn there. We scarcely breathed. We just sat and watched, like two mountain lions waiting. Pretty soon they came riding along—four of them on horseback; we knew the horses. The fellows were Bill Duane, Mike Delavan, Tony Matthews, and Bert Hawley. They were laughing and talking because the trail we made was plain and they thought that we all were pushing right on, and if they could read sign they would know that the tracks were not extra fresh. We let them get out of sight; then we went straight down upon the trail, and followed, alongside, so as not to step on top of their tracks and show that we had come after.

Lytton Strachey

Queen Victoria

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1265/1265-h/1265-h.htm

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After the death of the Princess Charlotte it was clearly important, for more than one reason, that the Duke of Kent should marry. From the point of view of the nation, the lack of heirs in the reigning family seemed to make the step almost obligatory; it was also likely to be highly expedient from the point of view of the Duke. To marry as a public duty, for the sake of the royal succession, would surely deserve some recognition from a grateful country. When the Duke of York had married, he had received a settlement of L25,000 a year. Why should not the Duke of Kent look forward to an equal sum? But the situation was not quite simple. There was the Duke of Clarence to be considered; he was the elder brother, and, if HE married, would clearly have the prior claim. On the other hand, if the Duke of Kent married, it was important to remember that he would be making a serious sacrifice: a lady was involved.

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CHEVALET'S CONDENSO-PURIFIER FOR GAS.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 363

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8452/8452-h/8452-h.htm

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The condenso-purifier shown in the accompanying cut operates as follows: Water is caused to flow over a metallic plate perforated with innumerable holes of from one to three millimeters in diameter, and then, under this disk, which is exactly horizontal, a current of gas is introduced. Under these circumstances the liquid does not traverse the holes in the plate, but is supported by the gas coming in an opposite direction. Provided that the gas has sufficient pressure, it bubbles up through the water and becomes so much the more divided in proportion as the holes are smaller and more numerous. The gas is washed by traversing the liquid, and freed from the tar and coal-dust carried along with it; while, at the same time, the ammonia that it contains dissolves in the water, and this, too, so much the better the colder the latter is. This apparatus, then, permits of obtaining two results: a mechanical one, consisting in the stoppage of the solid matters, and a chemical one, consisting in the stoppage of the soluble portions, such as ammonia, sulphureted hydrogen, and carbonic acid.

Cissy Kiwanuka Luyiga

Old rooster

African Storybook Level 4

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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Once upon a time there was an old woman who lived alone. She had many chickens. Among them was a rooster that was very old and could no longer crow. One day the old woman's grandson visited. She was very happy to see him. She asked the young man to catch the old rooster so they could cook and eat it. The old rooster heard the woman talking and its heart sank. "Aaiii, you are also very old, but I don't see anyone trying to kill you, we will see!" So, the old rooster sneaked away and decided to head for the big city to start singing. As the old rooster walked, he met the cat. "What has happened?" the cat asked. "My friend, my boss wants to eat me because I can no longer tell her the time," said the old rooster. "I am going to the big city to sing. Where are you going?" "My friend, my boss has also decided to kill me because I can no longer catch rats. I am running away," said the cat. "Can I join you?" "Let's go!" said the old rooster.

Mimi Werna

Super Mummy and Super Super!

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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We have fun with children who come to the shop with their parents. Sometimes, mother has to serve as referee as well as help customers. I think that she has superpowers! When we become too noisy, mother says, "Now sit quietly and watch TV." She always adds, "But only for 30 minutes, while we take a break!" If we don't have schoolwork, sometimes mother asks me or my older sister to help her. I am not always ready to help. But I do it because I know she works so hard. As we walk home from the shop with the sun setting, we talk about our day. We have to hurry to keep up with her, but we love walking and talking with mother. She makes sure that we do homework and have time to play. She makes sure that we eat vegetables and fruits, and drink water. When we are sick, she cares for us.

H. N. POWERS

WILLIE AND HIS DOG DIVER

Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#Page_299

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Willie was a very little child and lived near a mill. One day he saw a big cruel boy come along and throw a little puppy into the mill-pond, and then run away. Willie cried out: "O Papa, Papa, do come here!" "What is the matter?" said his papa. "Oh, Papa! I want the little doggie! Please get him for me. He will be drowned!" His papa took a long pole and put it under the puppy's neck and pulled it out of the water and gave it to Willie. He was very happy with his dog, which, by next year, grew to be a big, strong, shaggy fellow, and was named Diver. He used to go with Willie everywhere the boy went, and he loved Willie very much. Everybody said: "What a beautiful dog!" and Willie was proud of him.

Eran Meshorer

What Are Embryonic Stem Cells and How Can They Help Us?

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00032

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The first attempts to turn mature cells back into pluripotent stem cells involved a process called cloning. In the cloning process, an egg is fertilized in the lab, and right after fertilization, the DNA is removed from the egg. The empty egg is then injected with DNA from another mature cell, such as a skin or blood cell. Even though the DNA is from a mature cell, the environment of the egg will basically reprogram the genetic material from the mature cell, so that it can create an embryo. If the egg keeps developing, it will develop into a clone of the person or animal from which the mature cell was taken. Human cloning is illegal, but in the early 1960's, English researchers successfully cloned frogs. Frogs have relatively very large eggs, so they are easy to work with. The researchers took a fertilized egg from a frog, removed the DNA, and injected the egg with genetic material from an intestinal cell of another frog. After about 40 days, the egg matured and developed into a tadpole. The tadpole was genetically identical to the frog from which the intestinal cell was taken.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

THE DRAGON'S TEETH.

TANGLEWOOD TALES

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/976/976-h/976-h.htm

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As fast as their princely robes got torn and tattered, they exchanged them for such mean attire as ordinary people wore. By and by, they come to have a wild and homeless aspect; so that you would much sooner have taken them for a gypsy family than a queen and three princes, and a young nobleman, who had once a palace for a home, and a train of servants to do their bidding. The four boys grew up to be tall young men, with sunburnt faces. Each of them girded on a sword, to defend themselves against the perils of the way. When the husbandmen, at whose farmhouses they sought hospitality, needed their assistance in the harvest field, they gave it willingly; and Queen Telephassa (who had done no work in her palace, save to braid silk threads with golden ones) came behind them to bind the sheaves. If payment was offered, they shook their heads, and only asked for tidings of Europa.

National Park Service, US Department of the Interior

The Signers of the Declaration: Historical Background

CLD

https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-signers-of-the-declaration-historical-background

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In May 1774, in retaliation for the "Boston Tea Party," Parliament closed the port of Boston and virtually abolished provincial self-government in Massachusetts. These actions stimulated resistance across the land. That summer, the Massachusetts lower house, through the committees of correspondence, secretly invited all 13 Colonies to attend a convention. In response, on the fifth of September, 55 Delegates representing 12 Colonies, Georgia excepted, assembled at Philadelphia. They convened at Carpenters' Hall and organized the First Continental Congress. Sharing though they did common complaints against the Crown, the Delegates propounded a wide variety of political opinions. Most of them agreed that Parliament had no right to control the internal affairs of the Colonies. Moderates, stressing trade benefits with the mother country, believed Parliament should continue to regulate commerce. Others questioned the extent of its authority. A handful of Delegates felt the answer to the problem lay in parliamentary representation. Most suggested legislative autonomy for the Colonies. Reluctant to sever ties of blood, language, trade, and cultural heritage, none yet openly entertained the idea of complete independence from Great Britain. After weeks of debate and compromise, Congress adopted two significant measures.

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THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR THE WONDERFUL LAMP

The Junior Classics, V5

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6328/pg6328-images.html

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There once lived, in one of the large and rich cities of China, a tailor, named Mustapha. He was very poor. He could hardly, by his daily labor, maintain himself and his family, which consisted only of his wife and a son. His son, who was called Aladdin, was a very careless and idle fellow. He was disobedient to his father and mother, and would go out early in the morning and stay out all day, playing in the streets and public places with idle children of his own age. When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father took him into his own shop, and taught him how to use his needle; but all his father's endeavors to keep him to his work were vain, for no sooner was his back turned than he was gone for that day. Mustapha chastised him; but Aladdin was incorrigible, and his father, to his great grief, was forced to abandon him to his idleness, and was so much troubled about him that he fell sick and died in a few months.

Andrew C. Gallup; Omar Tonsi Eldakar

Yawns Are Cool

Frontiers for Young Minds

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00052

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When thinking about why we yawn, people mostly pay attention to the respiratory, or breathing, aspect. When breathing, we inhale to increase our oxygen supply, and we exhale to get rid of excess carbon dioxide. So, the deep breath that accompanies yawning has led many people to believe that the purpose of yawns is to increase oxygen levels. While this explanation seems to make good sense, research conducted 30 years ago firmly rejected this idea. In a clear test of whether yawning was caused by low oxygen levels, Dr. Robert Provine et al. designed an experiment in which they changed the content of the air that was inhaled by participants in the laboratory and then witnessed the effects that the air had on yawning. The researchers had separate conditions where participants either inhaled air with extra oxygen or extra carbon dioxide. These experiments demonstrated that neither breathing pure oxygen nor increased levels of carbon dioxide altered the rate of yawning in humans. In other words, the results of this study revealed that yawning was unaffected by the amount of oxygen in the air, and that yawning, and breathing are controlled by separate mechanisms.

Anonymous

The Story of Joan of Arc, the Maid Who Saved France

Junior Classics Vol. 7

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6302/pg6302-images.html

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In Joan's childhood France was under a mad king, Charles VI, and was torn to pieces by two factions, the party of Burgundy and the party of Armagnac. The English took advantage of these disputes, and overran the land. The two parties of Burgundy and Armagnac divided town from town and village from village. It was as in the days of the Douglas Wars in Scotland, when the very children took sides for Queen Mary and King James, and fought each other in the streets. Domremy was for the Armagnacs—that is, against the English and for the Dauphin, the son of the mad Charles VI. But at Maxey, a village near Domremy, the people were all for Burgundy and the English. The boys of Domremy would go out and fight the Maxey boys with fists and sticks and stones. Joan did not remember having taken part in those battles, but she had often seen her brothers and the Domremy boys come home all bruised and bleeding.

Jack London

Martin Eden

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1056/1056-h/1056-h.htm

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An oil painting caught and held him. A heavy surf thundered and burst over an outjutting rock; lowering storm-clouds covered the sky; and, outside the line of surf, a pilot-schooner, close-hauled, heeled over till every detail of her deck was visible, was surging along against a stormy sunset sky. There was beauty, and it drew him irresistibly. He forgot his awkward walk and came closer to the painting, very close. The beauty faded out of the canvas. His face expressed his bepuzzlement. He stared at what seemed a careless daub of paint, then stepped away. Immediately all the beauty flashed back into the canvas. "A trick picture," was his thought, as he dismissed it, though in the midst of the multitudinous impressions he was receiving he found time to feel a prod of indignation that so much beauty should be sacrificed to make a trick. He did not know painting. He had been brought up on chromos and lithographs that were always definite and sharp, near or far. He had seen oil paintings, it was true, in the show windows of shops, but the glass of the windows had prevented his eager eyes from approaching too near.

Sarah Parsons Doughty

The Christmas Tree

Playing Santa Claus and Other Christmas Tales

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54803/54803-h/54803-h.htm#tree

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It was a pleasant sight to look at little Susy, as her brother eagerly displayed his treasures to her admiring gaze; and it was even more gratifying to witness the gratitude of the mother, as Betty emptied the contents of her basket. After assisting in planting the branch of evergreen in a broken flower-pot which the children produced for the purpose, Mary and Horace took leave, and joyfully returned to their home. Their Christmas-tree was indeed radiant with light. It seemed to the happy children that it had never been so brilliant before; for their hearts were filled with the delight of doing good to others, and this made all seem bright around them. Morning found the tree well loaded with fruit,—pretty and useful gifts, which the children were delighted to receive. It was indeed a happy Christmas. They felt that they were surrounded with blessings; and, above all, they rejoiced in the happiness of sharing these blessings with others.

simple wiki

Protein

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein

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Proteins have different functions depending on their shape. They can be found in meat or muscle. They are used for growth and repair, as well as for strengthening the bones. They help to make tissue and cells. They are in animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and also in the human body. Muscles contain a lot of protein. When protein is digested, it is broken down into amino acids. These amino acids can then be used to build new protein. Proteins form an important part in foods like milk, eggs, meat, fish, beans, spinach, and nuts. There are four factors that determine what a protein will do. The first is the order of the amino acids. There are 20 different types of amino acids. The second is the little twists in the chain. The third is how the entire structure is folded up. The fourth is whether it is made up of different sub-units. Haemoglobin molecules, for example, are made of four sub-units.

Hildegard G. Frey

THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS DO THEIR BIT OR, OVER THE TOP WITH THE WINNEBAGOS

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11664/11664-h/11664-h.htm

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A porter brushed by her as she stood there with a glass of milk in his hand. Sahwah watched the progress of the milk idly, and the porter stopped beside the Lieutenant of Aviation with it. The lieutenant seemed to be asleep, for the porter had to shake him before he became aware of his existence. Just then Hinpoha caught Sahwah's eye and motioned her to come back to her seat, and Sahwah went tripping down the aisle to join her friends. She glanced casually at the young lieutenant as she passed him; he was staring fixedly at her and she dropped her eyes quickly. A little electric shock tingled through her as she met his eyes; he seemed to be about to speak to her. "Probably mistook me for someone else and thought he knew me," Sahwah thought to herself, and dismissed him from her mind.

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

Rezanov

http://www.online-literature.com/gertrude-atherton/rezanov/1/

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The Spanish officer made a peremptory gesture that the ship come to anchor in the shelter given by an immense angle of the mainland, of which the fort's point was the western extreme. The Russians, as befitted the peaceful nature of their mission, obeyed without delay. Before their resting place, and among the sand hills a mile from the beach, was a quadrangle of buildings some two hundred feet square and surrounded by a wall about fourteen feet high and seven feet thick. This they knew to be the Presidio. They saw the officers that had hailed them gallop over the hill behind the fort to the more ambitious enclosure, and, in the square, confer with another group that seemed to be in a corresponding state of excitement. A few moments later a deputation of officers, accompanied by a priest in the brown habit of the Franciscan order, started on horseback for the beach. Rezanov ordered Lieutenant Davidov and Dr. Langsdorff to the shore as his representatives.

Mary Elmore

ALMOST LOST

The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII. A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24476/24476-h/24476-h.htm#Page_91

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They were by this time near the entrance to the wood. Emily began to cry with alarm; but Julia said, "Do not be afraid. See! there is the little old shanty where the wood-choppers used to go in winter to eat their dinners. We will go in there, and stop till somebody comes for us." So they went in; and, as good luck would have it, Julia found some matches in an old box on the shelf. There were plenty of pine-chips, too, lying in the corner of the one room, which was all that the shanty afforded. Soon Julia had a merry fire blazing on the hearth; then Emily began to laugh. They sat down on a log, and warmed themselves; and Julia drew forth their luncheon from the leather bag, and they ate a hearty meal. What do you suppose the sisters did after that? Why, they began to sing songs, and tell stories, and repeat riddles; and they were in the midst of this, when they heard the sound of voices.

John Bright

National Morality

The Ontario High School Reader

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22795/22795-h/22795-h.htm#Page_161a

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I believe there is no permanent greatness to a nation except it be based upon morality. I do not care for military greatness or military renown. I care for the condition of the people among whom I live. There is no man in England who is less likely to speak irreverently of the Crown and Monarchy of England than I am; but crowns, coronets, mitres, military display, the pomp of war, wide colonies, and a huge empire, are, in my view, all trifles light as air, and not worth considering, unless with them you can have a fair share of comfort, contentment, and happiness, among the great body of the people. Palaces, baronial castles, great halls, stately mansions, do not make a nation. The nation in every country dwells in the cottage; and unless the light of your Constitution can shine there, unless the beauty of your legislation and the excellence of your statesmanship are impressed there on the feelings and condition of the people, rely upon it, you have yet to learn the duties of government.

Emily Carter

ELLEN'S CURE FOR SADNESS

The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII. A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24476/24476-h/24476-h.htm#Page_75

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"That poor woman looks sad and discouraged," said Ellen to herself: "she must be almost as sad as I am. How can I comfort her? Why, by buying some of her shoestrings, of course." Ellen had some money of her own put away in a box. She ran and got it, then, putting on her bonnet, went out and bought a whole bunch of shoestrings. Then, with her aunt's consent, she asked the poor woman to come in and get some luncheon. The poor woman gladly accepted the invitation; and Ellen soon had her seated by a nice fire in the kitchen, chatting and laughing with the maids as merrily as if she had no care in the world. "Have I made you happy?" asked Ellen. "That you have, you darling," said the poor woman, with a tear in her eye. "And so you have made me happy," replied Ellen. Yes, she had found that Aunt Alice was in the right. "The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer another."

P. CARLES

CANNED MEATS

Scientific American Supplement, No. 385

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8950/8950-h/8950-h.htm

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When tinned iron serves for containing alimentary matters, it is essential that the tin employed should be free from lead. The latter metal is rapidly oxidized on the surface and is dissolved in this form in the neutral acids of vegetables, meat, etc. The most exact method of demonstrating the presence of lead consists in treating the alloy--so-called tin--with aqua regia containing relatively little nitric acid. The whole dissolves; the excess of acid is driven off by evaporation at a boiling heat, and the residue, diluted with water, is saturated with hydrogen sulphide. The iron remains in solution, while the mixed lead and tin sulphides precipitated are allowed to digest for a long time in an alkaline sulphide. The tin sulphide only dissolves; it is filtered off and converted into stannic acid, while the lead sulphide is transformed into sulphate and weighed as such.

H. G. Wells

The Red Room

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23218/23218-h/23218-h.htm

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I heard the faint sound of a stick and a shambling step on the flags in the passage outside. The door creaked on its hinges as a second old man entered, more bent, more wrinkled, more aged even than the first. He supported himself by the help of a crutch, his eyes were covered by a shade, and his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth. He made straight for an armchair on the opposite side of the table, sat down clumsily, and began to cough. The man with the withered hand gave the newcomer a short glance of positive dislike; the old woman took no notice of his arrival, but remained with her eyes fixed steadily on the fire. "I said—it's your own choosing," said the man with the withered hand, when the coughing had ceased for a while. "It's my own choosing," I answered. The man with the shade became aware of my presence for the first time, and threw his head back for a moment, and sidewise, to see me. I caught a momentary glimpse of his eyes, small and bright and inflamed. Then he began to cough and splutter again.

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NITRITE OF AMYL.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 299

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8408/8408-h/8408-h.htm

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One of the most important indications for the use of the drug is threatening paralysis of the heart from insufficient compensation. In such cases it is necessary to gain time until digitalis and alcoholics can unfold their action, and here nitrite of amyl stands pre-eminent. A single case in point will suffice to illustrate this. The patient was suffering from mitral insufficiency, with irregular pulse, loss of appetite, enlargement of the liver, and mild jaundice. Temporary relief had been several times afforded by infusion of digitalis. In February, 1879, the condition of the patient suddenly became aggravated. The pulse became very irregular and intermittent. The condition described as delirium cordis presented itself, together with epigastric pulsation and vomiting. Vigorous counter-irritation, by means of hot bottles and sinapisms to the extremities, etc., proved useless. Digitalis and champagne, when administered, were immediately vomited. The pulse ran up from seventy until it could no longer be counted at the wrist, while the beats of the heart increased to one hundred and twenty and more per minute. The extremities grew cold, and the face became covered with perspiration.

wikipedia

Molecular_nanotechnology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_nanotechnology

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Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials. Based on Richard Feynman's vision of miniature factories using nanomachines to build complex products (including additional nanomachines), this advanced form of nanotechnology (or molecular manufacturing) would make use of positionally-controlled mechanosynthesis guided by molecular machine systems. MNT would involve combining physical principles demonstrated by biophysics, chemistry, other nanotechnologies, and the molecular machinery of life with the systems engineering principles found in modern macroscale factories. While conventional chemistry uses inexact processes obtaining inexact results, and biology exploits inexact processes to obtain definitive results, molecular nanotechnology would employ original definitive processes to obtain definitive results. The desire in molecular nanotechnology would be to balance molecular reactions in positionally-controlled locations and orientations to obtain desired chemical reactions, and then to build systems by further assembling the products of these reactions.

Theodore Winthrop

Rowing Against Tide

St. Nicholas Magazine Volume 5 No. 2

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15373/15373-h/15373-h.htm#rowingagainsttide

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Almost sunset. I pulled my boat's head round, and made for home. I had been floating with the tide, drifting athwart the long shadows under the western bank, shooting across the whirls and eddies of the rapid strait, grappling to one and another of the good-natured sloops and schooners that swept along the highway to the great city, near at hand. For an hour I had sailed over the fleet, smooth glimmering water, free and careless as a sea-gull. Now I must 'bout ship and tussle with the whole force of the tide at the jaws of Hellgate. I did not know that not for that day only, but for life, my floating gayly with the stream was done. I pulled in under the eastern shore, and began to give way with all my boyish force. I was a little fellow, only ten years old, but my pretty white skiff was little, in proportion, and so were my sculls, and we were all used to work together.

Elyse Boudin, Frédérique Carcaillet, Anne-Sophie Tribot, Quentin Carabeux, Julie Deter, Thomas Claverie, Sébastien Villéger, & Nicolas Mouquet

Coral Reef Fish: Not Just a Matter of Beauty!

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00013

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You probably know Nemo, the orange and white clownfish (Amphiprion percula) hero of the movie "Finding Nemo" and his friend Dory, a blue and yellow surgeonfish (Paracanthurus hepatus). These fish species do actually live in coral reefs and are sought after for their beauty. It is this beauty that ecology researchers have been interested in. These researchers wondered whether the fish that humans appreciate the most and find the most beautiful were as useful to the coral reef ecosystem, as the ugly fishes that humans less appreciate. How did these researchers first determine which fish people found beautiful? They conducted an online survey with photos of tropical fish. Each page had two photos and the survey participant had to click on the most beautiful fish. Eight thousand people did the online test, with 20 different comparisons each. A total of 116 fish species were ranked from the ugliest to the most beautiful, according to the number of votes received from the survey.

Andrew Lang

What the Rose did to the Cypress

The Brown Fairy Book

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3282/3282-h/3282-h.htm#link2H_4_0002

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At the place where the prince intended to hunt he saw a most beautiful deer. He ordered that it should not be killed, but trapped or captured with a noose. The deer looked about for a place where he might escape from the ring of the beaters, and spied one unwatched close to the prince himself. It bounded high and leaped right over his head, got out of the ring, and tore like the eastern wind into the waste. The prince put spurs to his horse and pursued it; and was soon lost to the sight of his followers. Until the world-lighting sun stood above his head in the zenith he did not take his eyes off the deer; suddenly it disappeared behind some rising ground, and with all his search he could not find any further trace of it. He was now drenched in sweat, and he breathed with pain; and his horse's tongue hung from its mouth with thirst. He dismounted and toiled on, with bridle on arm, praying and casting himself on the mercy of heaven.

Aleyna La Croix, Michael A Jones

Clouds

https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/FKB-Kids-Stories-Clouds.pdf

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Look up at the sky. In many places you will see clouds. There are many different types of clouds. They are all different shapes and sizes. Some clouds are fluffy, while others are wispy. Some are big and others are small. Some even resemble familiar shapes. Have you ever wondered how clouds are formed? Clouds are made of evaporated water. Evaporation is when water changes from liquid to gas. Water evaporates from different sources all around you, like lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Can you guess the main source of water for clouds? The main source is the ocean. This is because the ocean makes up such a large part of the world. Seventy-one percent of our earth is covered by ocean. Water evaporates and becomes gas. This gas rises and mixes with particles in the air. It rises and rises until it cools and collects in one part of the sky. This forms a cloud. The kind of cloud that forms depends on the environment. Different clouds form at different heights. They change depending on the temperature, too. There are three major types of clouds: cirrus clouds, stratus clouds, and cumulus clouds. Each type of cloud looks different.

Hans Christian Andersen

What The Old Man Does Is Always Right

Journeys Through Bookland V2

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5796/pg5796.html

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Just such a farmhouse stood out in the country; and in this house dwelt an old couple—a peasant and his wife. Small as was their property, there was one article among it that they could do without—a horse, that lived on the grass it found by the side of the highroad. The old peasant rode into the town on this horse; and often his neighbors borrowed it of him, and rendered the old couple some service in return for the loan of it. But they thought it would be best if they sold the horse, or exchanged it for something that might be more useful to them. But what might this something be? "You'll know that best, old man," said the wife. "It is fair day today, so ride into town, and get rid of the horse for money, or make a good exchange; whichever you do will be right to me. Ride off to the fair."

Jean Lang

CEYX AND HALCYONE

A Book of Myths

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22693/22693-h/22693-h.htm#Page_144

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With rhythmic swing they drove the great ship over the grey sea, while Ceyx stood on deck and gazed back at his wife until his eyes could no longer distinguish her from the rocks on the shore, nor could she any longer see the white sails of the ship as it crested the restless waves. Heavier still was her heart when she turned away from the shore, and yet more heavy it grew as the day wore on and dark night descended. For the air was full of the clamorous wailings of the fierce winds whose joy it is to lash the waves into rage and to strew with dead men and broken timber the angry, surf-beaten shore. "My King," she sighed to herself. "My King! my Own!" And through the weary hours she prayed to the gods to bring him safely back to her, and many times she offered fragrant incense to Juno, protectress of women, that she might have pity on a woman whose husband and true lover was out in the storm, a plaything for ruthless winds and waves.

Hope Ledyard

Polly: A Before Christmas Story

St. Nicholas Magazine Volume 5 No. 1

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17513/17513-h/17513-h.htm#polly

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There was some truth in what Mrs. Gaston had told her little daughter; the Huntleys did not keep Christmas in a loving, hearty way. They kept it in so far that on this very afternoon Mrs. Huntley was busy making the mince pies, dressing the turkey, and doing all she could to be beforehand with the extra Christmas dinner. Mr. Huntley had just stepped into the kitchen for a moment to say to his wife, "What have you settled on for Ned's Christmas?" "I've bought him a pair of arctics—he needed 'em; and if you want to spend more than common, you might get him half a dozen handkerchiefs." "Well, wife, I was thinking that perhaps" —the farmer tried to be particular about his words, for Mrs. Huntley did not seem in a very good humor—"I was remembering how you used to enjoy giving the young ones candies and toys; so, perhaps—" "Now, Noah Huntley, I'm surprised at you! Buy candies and toys for a great lumbering boy like Ned? Why, you must be crazy, man! The next thing will be that you'll want a Christmas-tree yourself!"

National Archives

The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-1897-petition-against-the-annexation-of-hawaii

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In March of 1897, William McKinley was inaugurated as President of the United States. McKinley was in favor of annexation, and the change in leadership was soon felt. On June 16, 1897, McKinley and three representatives of the government of the Republic of Hawaii --Lorrin Thurston, Francis Hatch, and William Kinney-- signed a treaty of annexation. President McKinley then submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification. The Hui Aloha Aina for Women and the Hui Aloha Aina for Men now organized a mass petition drive. They hoped that if the U.S. government realized that the majority of native Hawaiian citizens opposed annexation, the move to annex Hawaii would be stopped. Between September 11 and October 2, 1897, the two groups collected petition signatures at public meetings held on each of the five principal islands of Hawaii. The petition, clearly marked "Petition Against Annexation" and written in both the Hawaiian and English languages, was signed by 21,269 native Hawaiian people, or more than half the 39,000 native Hawaiians and mixed-blood persons reported by the Hawaiian Commission census for the same year.

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

A FAINT HEART

White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36034/36034-h/36034-h.htm

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Towards six o'clock on New Year's Eve Shumkov returned home. Arkady Ivanovitch, who was lying on the bed, woke up and looked at his friend with half-closed eyes. He saw that Vasya had on his very best trousers and a very clean shirt front. That, of course, struck him. "Where had Vasya to go like that? And he had not dined at home either!" Meanwhile, Shumkov had lighted a candle, and Arkady Ivanovitch guessed immediately that his friend was intending to wake him accidentally. Vasya did, in fact, clear his throat twice, walked twice up and down the room, and at last, quite accidentally, let the pipe, which he had begun filling in the corner by the stove, slip out of his hands. Arkady Ivanovitch laughed to himself. "Vasya, give over pretending!" he said. "Arkasha, you are not asleep?" "I really cannot say for certain; it seems to me I am not."

Burt L. Standish

Frank Merriwell's Reward

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19402/19402-h/19402-h.htm

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An electric hansom, which had sailed up the street in an eminently respectable manner, had suddenly and without apparent reason begun to act in an altogether disreputable way. It had veered round, rushed over the crossing, and made a bee-line for the sidewalk, almost running down a party of Frank Merriwell's friends, who were out for an afternoon stroll on the street in the pleasant spring sunshine. The motorman, who occupied a grand-stand seat in the rear, seemed to have lost control of the automobile. He was excitedly fumbling with his levers, but without being able to bring the carriage to a stop. The street was crowded with people at the time, and when the electric carriage began to cut its eccentric capers there was a rush for places of safety, while the air was filled with excited cries and exclamations. Merriwell could see the head of a passenger, a man, through the window of the automobile.

Isaac Cervantes-Sandoval; Ronald L. Davis

Fruit Flies Can Teach Us How We Forget

Frontiers for Young Minds

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00063

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Neuroscientists, scientists who study how the brain works, have been very interested in learning how memories are stored in the brain. However, neuroscientists have only very recently begun to study forgetting. To understand how the human brain forgets, we can study how fruit flies forget. Fruit flies are awesome, small insects that are great for scientific research. They grow very fast in the laboratory and we can produce as many flies as we want. Their genetic material, or DNA, is also very easy to change. DNA is a very long, thin chemical that contains the instructions to build any living organism. DNA contains genes, which are sections of the DNA that tell a cell how to make a protein. The instructions contained in the DNA of the flies can be changed in the lab. Genes can be removed, making a mutant fly. In this way, we can explore what happens to a fly if a piece of these instructions is removed.

Madhav Chavan

The jungle school

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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Tota, the parrot flew ahead. Zhoola, the monkey jumped from tree to tree. Poorakha, the python slithered fast. "Here!" shouted Tota. "Can you read?" "It is upside down, I think," said Zhoola hanging by the branch. Poorakha concluded, "Hisssss. No one can read." Soon, all the other friends joined them. Lamboo looked over the tree. "No one here," he said. Zhoola repeated, "No one here." Tota proposed, "Look carefully!" Pilloo, the little bear declared, "I found a room!" "I found a swing", announced Dheema. "What are these blocks?" Darpok wanted to know. "What is this?" was Zhoola's question. Poorakha explained, "I believe, this is a pencil." Moto and Lamboo found a classroom. They called the others, "Look, what is this?" Everyone came with school bags. They began shouting, "Teacher! Teacher! Where is our teacher?" No one knew. Then they heard a roar. They heard a loud roar. They heard a louder roar. Poorakha was worried. Dheema was scared. Tota hid behind the board. Lamboo and Zhoola were puzzled.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

THE THREE GOLDEN APPLES

A WONDER-BOOK FOR GIRLS AND BOYS

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9257/9257-h/9257-h.htm

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Meanwhile, Hercules travelled constantly onward, over hill and dale, and through the solitary woods. Sometimes he swung his club aloft, and splintered a mighty oak with a downright blow. His mind was so full of the giants and monsters with whom it was the business of his life to fight, that perhaps he mistook the great tree for a giant or a monster. And so eager was Hercules to achieve what he had undertaken, that he almost regretted to have spent so much time with the damsels, wasting idle breath upon the story of his adventures. But thus it always is with persons who are destined to perform great things. What they have already done seems less than nothing. What they have taken in hand to do seems worth toil, danger, and life itself. Persons who happened to be passing through the forest must have been affrighted to see him smite the trees with his great club. With but a single blow, the trunk was riven as by the stroke of lightning, and the broad boughs came rustling and crashing down.

Rabindranath Tagore

THE SON OF RASHMANI

Stories from Tagore

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33525/33525-h/33525-h.htm

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When the Goddess of Fortune deserts a house, she usually leaves some of her burdens behind, and this ancient family was still encumbered with its host of dependents, though its own shelter was nearly crumbling to dust. These parasites take it to be an insult if they are asked to do any service. They get headaches at the least touch of the kitchen smoke. They are visited with sudden rheumatism the moment they are asked to run errands. Therefore, all the responsibilities of maintaining the family were laid upon Rashmani herself. Women lose their delicacy of refinement, when they are compelled night and day to haggle with their destiny over things which are pitifully small, and for this they are blamed by those for whom they toil. Besides her household affairs Rashmani had to keep all the accounts of the little landed property which remained and also to make arrangements for collecting rents. Never before was the estate managed with such strictness. Bhavani had been quite incapable of collecting his dues: Rashmani never made any remission of the least fraction of rent.

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MANGANESE AND ITS USES.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 401

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8742/8742-h/8742-h.htm

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It occurs in small quantity in association with iron in meteoric stones; with this exception it is not found native. The metal may be obtained by the reduction of its sesquioxide by carbon at an extreme heat. Manganese forms no less than six different oxides--viz., protoxide, sesquioxide the red oxide, the binoxide or peroxide, manganic acid, and permanganic acid. The protoxide occurs as olive-green powder, and is obtained by igniting carbonate of manganese in a current of hydrogen. Its salts are colorless, or of a pale rose color, and have a strong tendency to form double salts with the salts of ammonia. The carbonate forms the mineral known as manganese spar. The sulphate is obtained by heating the peroxide with sulphuric acid till there is faint ignition, dissolving the residue in water and crystallizing. It is employed largely in calico printing. The silicate occurs in various minerals.

Sandhya Mishra; Tonmoy Ghosh

How Does Photosynthesis Take Place in Our Oceans?

Frontiers for Young Minds

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00034

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When you think of food, do you usually come up with images of your favorite food? This is a natural process, since food is important for every living thing. To fulfill this basic need, all living things either make their own food or get it from some other source. Humans can eat both plants and animals. Some animals consume other animals, while some animals eat plants as their food. Ultimately, we see that everybody on this planet is dependent on plants for their food. But then, what do plants eat? Actually, plants "eat" sunlight and a gas called carbon dioxide, both of which are easily available right here on earth. The process by which land plants produce their own food using sunlight and carbon dioxide is known as photosynthesis. While carbon dioxide is absorbed by the leaves, the sunlight is captured by a chemical molecule in the plant, called chlorophyll (Chl). All photosynthetic organisms contain Chl.

simple wiki

Capacitor

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor

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A capacitor (also called condenser, which is the older term) is an electronic device that stores electric energy. It is similar to a battery, but is smaller, lightweight and charges up much quicker. Capacitors are used in many electronic devices today and can be made out of many different types of material. The Leyden jar was one of the first capacitors invented. Capacitors are usually made with two metal plates that are on top of each other and near each other, but that do not actually touch. When powered, they allow energy to be stored inside an electrical field. Because the plates need a lot of area to store even a small amount of charge, the plates are usually rolled up into some other shape, such as a cylinder. Sometimes, other shapes of capacitors are used for special purposes. A capacitor-like effect can also result just from two conductors being close to each other, whether you want it to exist or not.

Mark Twain

Excerpt from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn

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We went to a clump of bushes, and Tom made everybody swear to keep the secret, and then showed them a hole in the hill, right in the thickest part of the bushes. Then we lit the candles, and crawled in on our hands and knees. We went about two hundred yards, and then the cave opened up. Tom poked about amongst the passages, and pretty soon ducked under a wall where you wouldn't a noticed that there was a hole. We went along a narrow place and got into a kind of room, all damp and sweaty and cold, and there we stopped. Tom says: "Now, we'll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer's Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood." Everybody was willing. So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it.

simple wiki

Paleontology

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology

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Paleontology is the study of fossils of living things, and their phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). It depends on basic sciences such as zoology, botany and historical geology. The term paleobiology implies that the study will investigate the paleoecology of the groups in question. In paleozoology, the evolution of those phyla with fossil records are studied: see List of animal phyla. In paleobotany, fossil plants are studied. In historical geology the formation, sequence and dating of rock strata give information about past environments. A fossil is any kind of life that is more than ten thousand years old and preserved in any form that we can study today. The fossil record is always incomplete, and later discoveries may extend the known survival of a group. See Lazarus taxon. Some paleontologists study fossils of microorganisms, living things that are too small to see without a microscope, while other paleontologists study fossils of giant dinosaurs.

Harriet Myrtle

The Goat and Her Kid

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21275/21275-h/21275-h.htm

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This unlucky nestling had not long sat in this way before some boys, who had brought the haymakers their dinners, and were returning home, saw him in the hedge, and immediately began to try to catch him. But though he could not fly, he could flutter, and if he was not able to run, at least he could hop; so every time one of the boys got near to him, the nestling scrambled on to the next bough, and thus from bough to bough all along the hedge. If the boys had only known how dreadfully frightened the poor little bird was, they never could have been so cruel as to hunt him in this way. They did not know this, however, and only thought of catching him. At last he had got to the end of the hedge, and then went fluttering down upon the field with the boys after him. They soon were so close to him, as he hopped and fluttered along the short grass, that the poor little fellow felt their hands would presently be upon him, and as a last chance of escape, he crept and hid himself under a wisp of hay.