Arfa Karim

February 1995 – 14 January 2012), was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy, who in 2004 at the age of nine years became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) in the world, a title she kept until 2008. She was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in USA. A Science park in Lahore was named after her as Arfa Karim Technology Park.
Early life
Arfa was born in a family that hailed from the village of Chak No. 4JB Ram Dewali in Faisalabad, Punjab. After returning to Pakistan from a visit to Microsoft headquarters, Arfa had numerous interviews with television and newspapers. S. Somasegar, the vice president of the Software Development Division, wrote about her in his blog. On 2 August 2005, Arfa Karim was presented the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz on the occasion of 113th birth anniversary of Fatima Jinnah. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in August 2005 by the President of Pakistan. Arfa Karim is also the recipient of the President's Award for Pride of Performance, a civil award granted to people who have shown excellence in their respective fields over a long period of time. She is the youngest recipient of this award. In recognition of her achievement Arfa was made brand ambassador for Pakistan Telecommunication Company's 3G Wireless Broadband service named EVO in January 2010.
Representation at international forums
Arfa Karim has also represented Pakistan on various international forums, she was invited by the Pakistan Information Technology Professionals Forum for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. A dinner reception was hosted for her there, which was attended by the dignitaries of Dubai including the Ambassador of Pakistan. During that trip, Arfa was presented with various awards and gifts including a laptop. During the same tour she also flew a plane in a flying club at the age of 10 and received the first flight certificate. In November 2006, Arfa attended the Tech-Ed Developers conference themed Get ahead of the game held in Barcelona on an invitation from Microsoft. She was the only Pakistani among over 5000 developers in that conference.
Cardiac arrest
In 2011, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim was studying at the Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A Levels. She suffered a cardiac arrest after an epileptic seizure which damaged her brain on 22 December 2011, and was admitted to Lahore's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in critical condition.
Offer by Bill Gates
On 9 January 2012, Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft, made contact with Arfa's parents, and directed his doctors to adopt "every kind of measure" for her treatment. Gates set up a special panel of international doctors who remained in contact with her local doctors through teleconference. The panel received details about her illness and provided assistance in diagnosis and treatment. Local doctors dismissed the option of Arfa being moved to another hospital due to her being on a ventilator and in critical condition. Relatives and family members of Arfa have lauded Bill Gates for offering to bear her treatment expenses.
Signs of improvement
On 13 January 2012, Arfa Karim started to improve and some parts of her brain showed signs of improvement. Her father, Amjad Karim Randhawa, said Microsoft had raised the possibility of flying Arfa to the US for care.
Death
On 14 January 2012, 16-year-old Arfa Karim died at 9:50 PM (Pakistan Standard Time) at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore. Her Namaz-e-Janaza was offered in Cavalry Ground Lahore at 10 AM on 15 January 2012, and later at Faisalabad the same day. The funeral was attended by Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif. She was buried at her ancestral village Chak No. 4JB Ram Dewali, Faisalabad.
Arfa Software Technology Park
On 15 January 2012, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that the name of Lahore Technology Park would be changed to Arfa Software Technology Park.

Bharat Ratna

Bharat Ratna , translates to Jewel of India or Gem of India in English) is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order.         In 2011, the Minister for Home Affairs and Prime Minister of India agreed to change the eligibility criteria to allow sportspersons to receive the award.

The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank 7th in the Indian order of precedence; however, unlike knights they do not carry any special title nor any other honorifics.
History
The order was established by Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on 2 January 1954. The original statutes of January 1954 did not make allowance for posthumous awards (and this perhaps explains why the decoration was never awarded to Mahatma Gandhi), though this provision was added in the January 1955 statute. Subsequently, there have been twelve posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn. The award was briefly suspended from 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980.

While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption.[citation needed] Of the 41 awards so far, there has been one award to a naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa (1980), and to two non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such.

Originally, the specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal carrying the state emblem and motto, among other things. It is uncertain if a design in accordance with the original specifications was ever made. The actual award is designed in the shape of a peepul leaf and carries with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script. The reverse side of the medal carries the state emblem and motto. The award is attached to a 2-inch-wide (51 mm) ribbon, and was designed to be worn around the recipient's neck.

Abraham Lincoin Ghost

There have been several stories about ghosts of former Presidents revisiting the White House. However, the most common and popular is that of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Ghost, or to others as The White House Ghost, is said to have haunted the White House since his death. It is widely believed that when he was president, Lincoln might have known of his assassination before he died

The dream

Lincoln had a dream on April 14, 1865, the day that he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. As he told his Cabinet that day:

"In the dream, I was awakened by a faint moaning coming from somewhere nearby. I stood, and began hunting the noise, finally finding my way to the east room, where men and women were shrouded in funeral shawls. I saw a coffin on a dais, and soldiers at either end. A captain stood nearby, and I addressed him 'Who is dead in the White House' say I. 'The President,' is his answer, 'he was killed by an assassin.' In the coffin was a corpse in funeral vestments, but the face was obscured."

Sightings

Lyndon B. Johnson is supposed to have spoken with the ghost of Mr. Lincoln. Johnson, standing in the second floor room that had been Lincoln's office (Lincoln had used the Oval Office as a library), asked "You had a war, you had a Civil Rights movement, you had protesters and critics, what can I do?" And the story goes, the response was "Don't go to the theater." This story is a humorous yarn originated by an anonymous humorist on the staff of Bob Hope.

Lincoln's ghost can see the future, according to some witnesses, mainly White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater in 1990.

In an unkind variant of the story, Lincoln advises his successor that he should go to the theater. The unfriendly variant has been told of many subsequent presidents

Abraham Lincoin Bedroom

Young Willie Lincoln (age 11) died in the White House in the bed now in the Lincoln Bedroom at about 5:00 P.M. on February 20, 1862. Both Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower claimed they felt the powerful presence of Abraham Lincoln in this room. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Sometimes when I worked at my desk late at night I'd get a feeling that someone was standing behind me. I'd have to turn around and look." Rumors were that Winston Churchill had a Lincoln sighting in the room. Amy Carter, during sleepovers with her friends, waited up at night for the ghost of Mr. Lincoln to appear. Once the girls tried to get in touch with him with a Ouija board to no avail. Ronald Reagan's dog would bark outside the room but never enter. Maureen Reagan said she saw mysterious apparitions there. Actor Richard Dreyfess reported having scary dreams about a portrait of Mr. Lincoln that hangs in the room. "A high percentage of people who work here won't go in the Lincoln Bedroom," said President Bill Clinton's White House social secretary, Capricia Marshall. White House maids and butlers have sworn they had seen Lincoln’s ghost.

The Lincoln Bedroom was in the news during Bill Clinton's term because of its use as a bedroom for White House guests. But it wasn't always used as a bedroom. When Abraham Lincoln was president, it was used as his personal office and Cabinet room. (It was used in this manner by all presidents between 1830 and 1902.) During the Lincoln presidency, the walls were covered with Civil War maps. It had dark green wallpaper, and the carpeting was also dark green. Newspapers were stacked on the desk and tables along with large amounts of mail and requests from office seekers. Two large wicker wastebaskets were filled with debris. Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in this room on January 1, 1863.
In 1902 the room became a bedroom when all the second floor offices were moved to the West Wing during the Roosevelt renovation. It was named the Lincoln Bedroom in 1945 when President and Mrs. Truman moved in the bed and other furniture. Mary Todd Lincoln purchased the large bed, measuring eight feet long by six feet wide, in 1861 as part of her refurbishing of the White House. (The photograph of the bed is from the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection.) It was a part of a set of furniture she purchased for the Prince of Wales Room (besides the bed which had purple-and-gold satin curtains, the set included matching draperies, a marble-topped table, and six chairs). Several presidents used the bed including Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Never used by Abraham Lincoln himself, it is made of carved rosewood. The original mattress was made of horsehair. Barbara Bush replaced the mattress, but guests still report it's lumpy.

Many of the Victorian pieces in the bedroom were placed there by the Trumans when the Brussels carpet and the Lincoln bed were installed in 1945. The chandelier, which was acquired in 1972, resembles the one hanging there when Lincoln was president. The sofa and matching chairs, a gift to the White House in 1954, are believed to have been there during Lincoln's presidency. One of the chairs in the room, upholstered in antique yellow-and-green Morris velvet, was sold after Lincoln's assassination but was returned to the White House as a gift in 1961. The rocking chair near the window is similar to the one Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.


Along the west wall are four chairs used by Lincoln's Cabinet members. They are believed to have been purchased for the White House when James Polk was president. To the left of the fireplace is a desk that Lincoln used at the Soldiers' Home (where he often stayed to escape the heat of Washington's summers).


President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home
On this desk is a copy of the Gettysburg Address that is signed, dated, and titled by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln originally gave this copy to Colonel Alexander Bliss.

To the left of the bed is a portrait of Andrew Jackson that was a favorite of Lincoln's. The portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln, hanging to the right of the bed, was given to the White House by Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln. It was painted from photographs by Katherine Helm, daughter of Mary Todd's half-sister, Emily Todd Helm. To the right of the mantel is an engraving of Francis B. Carpenter's 1864 painting titled First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before Lincoln's Cabinet.

Hanging above the desk is an 1865 lithograph titled Abraham Lincoln's Last Reception. It depicts Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln greeting guests, including Cabinet members, in the East Room. On the north wall hangs a portrait of Lincoln by Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk based on a bust his father (Leonard Volk) had done from real life. Other objects associated with Lincoln, including books he read, have also been placed about the room.
** Mrs. John F. Kennedy

Thank you to Sarah Norton Ramberg for creating the idea for this page. Sources used: The White House: An Historic Guide by the White House Historical Association in cooperation with The National Geographic Society; How the White House Works by George Sullivan; Lincoln in American Memory by Merrill D. Peterson; The White House: Cornerstone of a Nation by Judith St. George; The White House by Patricia Ryon Quiri; and the March 17th, 1997, issue of People Weekly.

Although the bed was not actually used by President Lincoln, the late author Dr. Merrill D. Peterson wrote on p. 324 of Lincoln in American Memory: “When President Truman told his aged mother, an unreconstructed Confederate, that she would sleep in Lincoln’s bed when visiting him in the capital, she told him in no uncertain terms that she would sleep on the floor instead.”

Diesel Cycle - Ideal Cycle for Compression-ignition Engines

Isentropic Compression (1-2) Click to View Movie (25.0 kB)		The only difference between ideal Otto cycle and ideal Diesel cycle is the heat addition process. Instead of constant volume heat addition process in SI engine, heat is added to the air in the Diesel engine at constant pressure. The four processes are: 1-2 Isentropic compression 2-3 Constant pressure heat addition 3-4 Isentropic expansion 4-1 Constant volume heat rejection
Constant Pressure Heat Addition (2-3) Click to View Movie (45 kB) Isentropic Expansion (3-4) Click to View Movie (29 kB) Constant Volume Heat Rejection (4-1) Click to View Movie (35 kB)		Noting that the ideal Diesel cycle is executed in a closed system and the working fluid is air according to the air-standard assumption. Also, changes in kinetic and potential energies are negligible. No heat transfer is involved in the two isentropic processes. The energy balances for these two processes are:       -w12 = u2 - u1       -w34 = u4 - u3 w12 is negative since work is needed to compress the air in the cylinder and w34 is positive since air does work to the surroundings during its expansion. In the constant pressure heat addition process, air is expanded to keep the pressure as constant during the heat addition. The expansion work equals       w23 = P2(v3 - v2) The energy balances for this process is:       q23 = u3 - u2 + w23 = h3 - h2 In the constant volume heat rejection process, no work interaction is involved since no volume change occurs. The energy balances for this process is:           q41 = u1 - u4 q23 is positive since heat is added to the air and q41 is negative since heat is rejected to the surroundings during this process. For the whole cycle, the energy balance can be determined by adding the energy balance of its four processes. That is,       q23 + q41 - w12 - w34 = 0
		The thermal efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle is       ηth,Diesel = wnet/qin According to the analysis above, the net work output is       wnet = w34 + w12 = q23 + q41       qin = q23       ηth, Diesel = 1+ q41/q23 Under the cold air-standard assumption, the thermal efficiency of an ideal Diesel cycle is
		In order to simplify the above equation, the cutoff ratio rc is defined as rc = v3/v2 Process 1-2 and process 3-4 are isentropic. Thus,        The thermal efficiency relation reduces to

Thermodynamics(Auto cycle, Diesel cycle,Brayton cycle,Gay-Lussac's Law,Efficiency of Heat Engine formulas)

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics which deals with the energy and work of a system. It was born in the 19th century as scientists were first discovering how to build and operate steam engines. Thermodynamics deals only with the large scale response of a system which we can observe and measure in experiments. As aerodynamicists, we are most interested in the thermodynamics of propulsion systems and high speed flows. On this page we consider the thermodynamics of a four-stroke internal combustion engine. Today, most general aviation or private airplanes are powered by internal combustion (IC) engines, much like the engine in your family automobile.
There are two main parts to engine operation: the mechanical operation of the engine parts, and the thermodynamics through which the engine produces work and power. On this page we discuss the basic thermodynamic equations that allow you to design and predict engine performance.
In an internal combustion engine, fuel and air are ignited inside a cylinder. The hot exhaust pushes a piston which is connected to a crankshaft to produce power. The burning of fuel is not a continuous process, but occurs very quickly at regular time intervals. Between ignitions, the engine parts move in a repeated sequence called a cycle. The engine is called a four stroke engine because there are four movements, or strokes, of the piston during one cycle.
On the figure we show a plot of pressure versus gas volume throughout one cycle. We have broken the cycle into six numbered stages based on the mechanical operation of the engine. For the ideal four stroke engine, the intake stroke (1-2) and exhaust stroke (6-1) are done at constant pressure and do not contribute to the generation of power by the engine. During the compression stroke (2-3), work is done on the gas by the piston. If we assume that no heat enters the gas during the compression, we know the relations between the change in volume and the change in pressure and temperature from our solutions of the entropy equation for a gas. We call the ratio of the volume at the beginning of compression to the volume at the end of compression the compression ratio, r. Then
p3 / p2 = r ^ gamma
T3 / T2 = r ^ (gamma - 1)
where p is the pressure, T is the temperature, and gamma is the ratio of specific heats. During the combustion process (3-4), the volume is held constant and heat is released. The change in temperature is given by
T4 = T3 + f * Q /cv
where Q is the heat released per pound of fuel which depends on the fuel,f is the fuel/air ratio for combustion which depends on several factors associated with the design and temperature in the combustion chamber, and cv is the specific heat at constant volume. From the equation of state, we know that:
p4 = p3 * (T4 /T3)
During the power stroke (4-5), work is done by the gas on the piston. The expansion ratio is the reciprocal of the compression ratio and we can use the same relations used during the compression stroke:
p5 / p4 = r ^ (-gamma)
T5 / T4 = r ^ (1 - gamma)
Between stage 5 and stage 6, residual heat is transferred to the surroundings so that the temperature and pressure return to the initial conditions of stage 1 (or 2).
During the cycle, work is done on the gas by the piston between stages 2 and 3. Work is done by the gas on the piston between stages 4 and 5. The difference between the work done by the gas and the work done on the gas is shown in yellow and is the work produced by the cycle. We can calculate the work by determining the area enclosed by the cycle on the p-V diagram. But since the processes 2-3 and 4-5 are curves, this is a difficult calculation. We can also evaluate the work W by the difference of the heat into the gas minus the heat rejected by the gas. Knowing the temperatures, this is an easier calculation.
W = cv * [(T4 - T3) - (T5 - T2)]
The work times the rate of the cycle (cycles per second cps) is equal to the power P produced by the engine.
P = W * cps

On this page we have shown an ideal Otto cycle in which there is no heat entering (or leaving) the gas during the compression and power strokes, no friction losses, and instantaneous burning occurring at constant volume. In reality, the ideal cycle does not occur and there are many losses associated with each process. These losses are normally accounted for by efficiency factors which multiply and modify the ideal result. For a real cycle, the shape of the p-V diagram is similar to the ideal, but the area (work) is always less than the ideal value.

Diesel Cycle

Rudolph Diesel
	Rudolph Diesel was born in Paris of Bavarian parents in 1858. As a budding mechanical engineer at the Technical University in Munich, he became fascinated by the 2nd law of thermodynamics and the maximum efficiency of a Carnot process and attempted to improve the existing thermal engines of the day on the basis of purely theoretical considerations. His first prototype engine was built in 1893, a year after he applied for his initial patent, but it wasn't until the third prototype was built in 1897 that theory was put into practice with the first 'Diesel' engine.
Diesel Cycle Operation
The Diesel cycle is the cycle used in the Diesel (compression-ignition) engine. In this cycle the heat is transferred to the working fluid at constant pressure. The process corresponds to the injection and burning of the fuel in the actual engine. The cycle in an internal combustion engine consists of induction, compression, power and exhaust strokes.
Run Diesel Cycle Animation
	Induction Stroke The induction stroke in a Diesel engine is used to draw in a new volume of charge air into the cylinder. As the power generated in an engine is dependent on the quantity of fuel burnt during combustion and that in turn is determined by the volume of air (oxygen) present, most diesel engines use turbochargers to force air into the cylinder during the induction stroke. From a theoretical perspective, each of the strokes in the cycle complete at Top Dead Centre (TDC) or Bottom Dead Centre (BDC), but in practicality, in order to overcome mechanical valve delays and the inertia of the new charge air, and to take advantage of the momentum of the exhaust gases, each of the strokes invariably begin and end outside the 0, 180, 360, 540 and 720 (0) degree crank positions (see valve timing chart).
	Compression Stroke The compression stroke begins as the inlet valve closes and the piston is driven upwards in the cylinder bore by the momentum of the crankshaft and flywheel. The purpose of the compression stroke in a Diesel engine is to raise the temperature of the charge air to the point where fuel injected into the cylinder spontaneously ignites. In this cycle, the separation of fuel from the charge air eliminates problems with auto-ignition and therefore allows Diesel engines to operate at much higher compression ratios than those currently in production with the Otto Cycle.
	Compression Ignition Compression ignition takes place when the fuel from the high pressure fuel injector spontaneously ignites in the cylinder. In the theoretical cycle, fuel is injected at TDC, but as there is a finite time for the fuel to ignite (ignition lag) in practical engines, fuel is injected into the cylinder before the piston reaches TDC to ensure that maximum power can be achieved. This is synonymous with automatic spark ignition advance used in Otto cycle engines.
	Power Stroke The power stroke begins as the injected fuel spontaneously ignites with the air in the cylinder. As the rapidly burning mixture attempts to expand within the cylinder walls, it generates a high pressure which forces the piston down the cylinder bore. The linear motion of the piston is converted into rotary motion through the crankshaft. The rotational energy is imparted as momentum to the flywheel which not only provides power for the end use, but also overcomes the work of compression and mechanical losses incurred in the cycle (valve opening and closing, alternator, fuel injector pump, water pump, etc.).
	Exhaust Stroke The exhaust stroke is as critical to the smooth and efficient operation of the engine as that of induction. As the name suggests, it's the stroke during which the gases formed during combustion are ejected from the cylinder. This needs to be as complete a process as possible, as any remaining gases displace an equivalent volume of the new charge air and leads to a reduction in the maximum possible power.
	Exhaust and Inlet Valve Overlap Exhaust and inlet valve overlap is the transition between the exhaust and inlet strokes and is a practical necessity for the efficient running of any internal combustion engine. Given the constraints imposed by the operation of mechanical valves and the inertia of the air in the inlet manifold, it is necessary to begin opening the inlet valve before the piston reaches Top Dead Centre (TDC) on the exhaust stroke. Likewise, in order to effectively remove all of the combustion gases, the exhaust valve remains open until after TDC. Thus, there is a point in each full cycle when both exhaust and inlet valves are open. The number of degrees over which this occurs and the proportional split across TDC is very much dependent on the engine design and the speed at which it operates.

Mayan Civilization and Pyramids

Allowing us to trace the Mayan Civilization back in history as far as 3, 000 years, tells us that we have much to learn of the Mayan People. The people came from the southern part of mexico and the northern part of central America. Archaeological evidence shows us hat they began building their charactristic ceremonial structures (Mayan Pyramids) or Pyramid Temples, right back 3, 000 years ago. They belong from the Terminal pre-classic period and can be traced from before this time in some cases, they first seen as burial mounds.

There are two types of Mayan Pyramids: A climbing pyramid and the other was built for non climbing purposes, infact the purpose was thought to be that to be used to carry out sacrificial rituals. The climbing Pyramid strangley was not built for climbing at all, it had very steep steps leading to doorways that infact lead literally to nowhere!

Some of the pyramids consisted of as many as four staircases one for each side, others had a mere two on each side. The point was that when the priests or kings performed their rituals, they ascended the Pyramid from the staircases, which was a symbol of rising from earth to heaven. Obviously they would start from the ground and make their way up to the temple top, on the top was a constructed smaller building. Also situated somewhere in the middle was a platform that would connect the staircases, the priest or king would rest there and perform part of the ritual before continuing to the peak of the Pyramid.

Pyramids built as burial places were not just built for kings and priets but were also built specially for those with higher power. There were a certain Mayan Pyramid like construction. Normally these burial chambers contained treasures such as Jade.

These Pyramid like constructions could been seen above the tops of the jungle, they served as landmarks for the Mayan Civilization. It was also a reminder to the people that the Ancient Gods were also present!

The Pyramids also held symbolization for mountains, like thier temples held symbolization for something very different, according to historians the temples were a symbol to the caves that led to the underworld, while the doorways were representative of the mouths of monsters, and hence were embellished accordingly. The Mayan people had a great reputation of being keen astronomers, therefore using their pyramid structures as observatories. As well as religion, period of time and customs to each region, it was said that the pyramids were built accordingly serving the variety of functions and purposes.

There was no aids of help taken when building these hugh structures, not domestically anyway, no animals or wheels which had not been invented then. It was also not common to use metal tools, thi swas because it was common in the region of which they inhibited.

The tools they made use of were made of quartize, granite, limestone, and flint on stone, tools used for example were fire axes and basalt axes. To correctly judge the vertical accuracy tools like plumb bob were used.

Given below are some of the great townships that were built during the 1, 500 years that the Mayans had flourished in the expanses of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and in the verdant jungles of Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala, in which they built their distinctive pyramids, like Chichen Itza, Tulum, Uxmal, Tikal, Cholula, Copan, and Calacmul.

Its massive pyramids, including the enormous El Castillo pyramid which contains a jaguar throne, have wonderful murals and carvings. Dedeicated to the rain God, a natural well is found, it was used for making human sacrifices!

Tikal: Covering 60 squares miles and located in Guatemala lays the laregst city of the Mayan people. The Temple Pyramid, being the largest out of many of the Mayan Pyramids, boasts 230 feet in height. It was said for these pyramids to have been built from the period of the 7th century and headin out of the early part of the 9th century.

Uxmal: This was regarded as the most beautiful of the Mayan populated cities, given again its location in Mexico. It has the 'Pyramid of Magician'. Ithas been given its distinctive individuality as it is the only one with an oval base, instead of the usual square or rectangular shape. It provides us with fantsic breath taking views from the Pyramis terraces, also genrously offering us wonderful acoustics. The other numerous, temple Pyramids, monuments and quadrangles are given some considerable size, and are in various degrees of preservation.

Cholula: This Pyramid without doubt has earnt its right to be given the name 'the great pyramid of cholula'. It was conisdered to be the largest of them all including the Great Pyramid of Egypt, making it really the largest in the world. Later, however, another pyramid found in the ruins of El Mirador, in Guatemala, known as the Danta Pyramid has overtaken it by size, measuring up to 230 feet in height. However the main Pyramid of Cholula is very big, given a base covering 25 acres of land! As now it has the look of of being a natural hill with a church on its peak, Mayan Pyramids are similarly covered by earth and are given a catholic church to surmount on them.

Calakmul: Also known as Kalakmul, this is one of the largest amongst the ancient Mayan cities that have been discovered. It is situated in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, 30 km from the border of Guatemala, in the Petén jungles. The name of this city means ‘City of the Two Adjacent Pyramids.’

During their astonishing time of inhibitation, they built many more Mayan Pyramids of various sizes and fame in all their ancient cities. The presence of these wonderful structures reminds us chilingly of their former presence and disappearence of their own civilization. It was said to have been in the 10th century period when the civilization left the mysteries of themselves to the world history. Rightly earned recently these fabulous Pyramids have yet again stolen the attentions of the world and have been given the name as one of the most new seven wonders of the world!

Ten scenarios for the end of the world

All mankind shivers in anticipation of December 2012, when according to some interpreters of the Mayan calendar the end of the world will come.

Will the end of humanity really come? The British newspaper "Daily Telegraph" published the 10 most-circulated in recent years, scenarios for the end of the Earth.

Invasion of aliens

This version was more popular than back in 1898 when HG Wells published his novel "War of the Worlds". But scientists have found an interesting trend - fears of a deadly alien attack are increased at a time when people are afraid of more worldly threats.

- At the beginning of the 21st century an unknown planet will interject with the Earth, and will destroy civilization, or will cause a huge natural disaster. This scenario is based on fiction invented by the American Zekariya planet Nibiru Sitchin.

Every 3700 years Nibiru ends up in the inner part of our planetary system, but there are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Proof of the existence of Nibiru exists. In 2005, NASA announced that it has finally found a planet of our solar system and many believe that it will pass in 2012 near the Earth and will somewhat affect us.

- A powerful solar flare will swallow the Earth. Scientists actually believe that when the sun "exhausted its fuel, " it will swell to the size of a red giant, will explode and then swallow the Earth. That will happen no sooner than 5 billion years.

- Theory of the Earth's shifting magnetic poles. According to its supporters this will cause a change in the rotation of the planet and subsequent catastrophic events.

Scientists from Princeton University and the University "Paul Sabatier" in Toulouse found that Earth did some "re- balancing", 800 million years ago. They studied the minerals in rocks sediments in Norway and found that the north pole has shifted by 50 degrees in 20 million years. Such a shift will be due again in the very near future, predict the supporters of apocalyptic theories. According to geologists, however, this will happen over a period of 1 million years.

- The outbreak of a super volcano. Such volcanic explosion would occur when magma rose in the bowels of the earth, but can not find its way out, researchers explain. Enormous pressure accumulates, which ultimately will lead to a giant explosion. Such a cataclysm would spew into the air tons of toxic gases and volcanic debris, and would cause a new ice age and would destroy the life of the planet.

Ten scenarios for the end of the world

A similar explosion may be in a giant caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the U.S.. Satellite images in recent years there have shown changes in the movement of molten rock at a depth of 16 kilometers. But now, nobody knows if and when this caldera will erupt.

- World War III, for which will be used nuclear weapons. This scenario was updated during the Cold War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cold War fears allayed. In recent years, concern has also been returned because of Iran's nuclear program, tensions on the Korean Peninsula and continuing tensions between India and Pakistan - two countries with nuclear arsenals.

Last year in Prague, Barack Obama tried to dispel these fears with the promise of a world free of nuclear weapons.

- The act of terrorism with weapons of mass destruction. After the attacks on the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001, when nearly 3, 000 people died, fears of scenario # 7 have risen sharply. Western governments are talking about the danger of similar attacks against major cities.

At the opposite end is the conspiracy theory that the September 11 attacks were planned and carried out by the U.S. administration. Currently there is no evidence that Al Qaeda has nuclear weapons.

- Peak demand for oil will lead to the end of the world. Demand will be much greater than supply and shortage of oil supplies will have huge implications worldwide. Most economies are powered by oil, agriculture depends on it, the plastics industry is based entirely on it. Such a crisis would lead to collapse of social order.

According to optimists, this will occur by 2020, some oil giants, however, acknowledged that they have overestimated their oil reserves and raised fears that we have entered an era when demand for oil is greater than supply.

- Scenario number 9 is associated with the phenomenon observed in the winter of 2008 - the extinction of whole colonies. And over a third of commercial bee swarms in the U.S. died as a result of the collapse of the syndrome of bee colonies.

Syndrome spread to several European countries including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Several reasons were identified for the disease - pesticides, Israeli acute paralysis virus, wax moths, climate change, mobile phones and their networks.

New cases of the disease were previously reported by affected parties and hanging the threat of a pandemic on the bees, which can lead to their complete disappearance. If something like this happens, several cultures that are important to people, would disappear. These include soybeans, cotton, some nuts, grapes, apples, sunflowers, etc.

Third of the food consumed in the world is produced due to unsuspected involvement of bees. So the extinction of bees could lead to shortages of some foods, which leads to migration, violence, wars.

- Global warming and climate change. This can lead to multiplication of elements, from floods, to droughts ... Few scientists dispute the fact that average global temperatures increased last century. There were, however, climate skeptics, who discovered the errors and poorly substantiated conclusions in reports of international organizations for change, said that climate change data are manipulated by climatologists.

The world today has taken to counteract this phenomenon, and organized several international conferences on climate change.

Mysterious Nazca lines

Centuries ago, deserts, hills and mountains in the Pacific coast of South America were covered by an extensive network of drawings, lines and geometric shapes, figures of mammals, insects and deities. Nazca lines opened in 1927, and are a most extraordinary legacy left by the culture that flourished 2, 000 years ago. These lines and other figures represent a series of complex projects, some of them with long miles, which can be seen in their true dimension only from heaven. Not to be assumed that then the Nazca culture were able to fly, but still remains the question of how these drawings are made, what technologies are used and for what purpose have these lines been made?

Nazca Lines

City Nazca was founded in 1591 by the Spanish who conquered Nazca on plateau without any knowledge of what is located nearby. Today Nazca is a small, underdeveloped town, the main economic activity is based on tourism associated with unusual shapes, agriculture and trade. Tourism is directly related to the Nazca lines and other archaeological complexes such as the Kahuachi, Estakueriya, Chauchila tombs and the lines of Palpa valley.

Who drew the lines of Nazca?

Undoubtedly, after this question comes a number of questions, namely: Ancient religion? Did aliens came from space? Ancient astronomers? Artists with extraordinary opportunities? Initially it was thought that these pieces are the remains of irrigation canals in the flooded valley of Nazca. But after having been seen from the air, it became clear that the lines are fully recognizable as a huge network of amazing artifacts as they are in reality.

There are many hypotheses about the emergence of these incredible pieces, such as Erich von Danica, who claims to the 'chariots of the gods' that they are remnants of a giant extraterritorial airport. But the reality is often much more mysterious than fiction and this is exactly the case with Nazca and other artifacts of ancient cultures of Peru. Long before Inca they managed four kingdoms Nazca, Parakas, Kazma and Karan and yet with no plants were still able to calculate the passing time and seasons, and have built some of the oldest cities in the world.

New Science of Nazca lines

With the advancement of science we are able to learn more about ancient civilizations that may have created the Nazca lines and other mysterious figures.

In August 2007 a new science is presented by Anthony Pera, John McGovern, Alfred Koyayama, Marinus Anthony van der Slazhs and Matthias Wash. This new theory of science explores the relationship between prehistoric stone carvings, shapes of the earth and the periodic and extraordinary intensity of emission and appearance of the glow. There is a very high energy radiance if the world finishes and starts again repeating itself every several thousand years. This not only provokes high energy radiance but also provokes the changing of colors and patterns.

In many cases this can also reproduce static high energy radiation on the ground, resulting in the formation of a 'glass like wildfire' which also forms patterns that differ substantially from the ordinary to lightening strikes, namely in the form of lines, as are the Nazca lines.