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M45

M45

M45 is:
- Messier object 45, also known as the Pleiades, an open cluster of stars in constellation Taurus
- The M45 motorway in England
- A 4 speed gearbox from Volvo Cars.
- M45 is a French submarine-launched ballistic missile
- m/45 is a Swedish machinegun, the Carl Gustaf M/45
- a Y-chromosome genetic marker. All Western Europeans and many Eastern Europeans and Central Asians carry the M45 genetic marker. It helps to define the P haplogroup, which includes Q and R. It is thought to have originated about 30,000 years ago.
- Michigan State Highway 45 Category:Lists of roads sharing the same title

Messier object

The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects catalogued by Charles Messier in his catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters first published in 1774. The original motivation behind the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets. He therefore compiled a list of these objects. The first edition covered 45 objects numbered M1 to M45. The total list consists of 110 objects, ranging from M1 to M110. The final catalogue was published in 1781 and printed in the Connaissance des Temps in 1784. Many of these objects are still known by their Messier number. Because the Messier list was compiled by astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere, it contains only objects from the north celestial pole to a celestial latitude of about –35°. Many impressive Southern objects, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are excluded from the list. Because all of the Messier objects are visible with binoculars or small telescopes (under favorable conditions), they are popular viewing objects for amateur astronomers. In early spring, astronomers sometimes gather for "Messier Marathons", when all of the objects can be viewed over a single night.

See also


- List of Messier objects
- Messier marathon
- :Category:Messier objects

See also


- Deep sky object
- New General Catalogue

External links


- http://www.seds.org/messier/
- http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.html
- http://zebu.uoregon.edu/messier.html
- http://messier45.com/messier/index.html ja:メシエ天体
-

Pleiades (star cluster)

s surrounded by reflection nebulosity]] The Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters) is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest to the Earth of all open clusters, probably the best known and certainly the most striking to the naked eye. The distance of the cluster is very important as it is a crucial step in determining the distance scale of the whole universe. The Hipparcos satellite measured a distance for the cluster which was 10% smaller than most previous measurements, but was later found to have suffered from a systematic error when observing the Pleiades. The cluster is now known to lie at a distance of about 135 parsecs (440 light years). The cluster is dominated by hot blue stars, which have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that was erroneously thought at first to be remaining from the formation of the cluster forms faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars. The cluster will in time disperse due to gravitational interactions with the spiral arms of the galaxy and giant molecular clouds. The cluster's lifetime will probably be about 250 million years.

History

giant molecular cloud]] The Pleiades are a prominent sight in the northern hemisphere in winter, and have been known since antiquity to cultures all around the world, including the Maori and Australian Aborigines, the Japanese and the Sioux of North America. Some Greek astronomers considered them to be their own constellation, and they are mentioned in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and also by Hesiod. They are also mentioned three times in the Bible (Job 9:9, 38:31; Amos 5:8). They have long been known to be a physically related group of stars rather than any chance alignment. The Reverend John Michell calculated in 1767 that the probability of a chance alignment of so many bright stars was only 1 in 500,000, and so correctly surmised that the Pleiades and many other clusters of stars must be physically related . When studies were first made of the stars' proper motions, it was found that they are all moving in the same direction across the sky, at the same rate, further demonstrating that they were related. Charles Messier measured the position of the cluster and included it as M45 in his catalogue of comet-like objects, published in 1771. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Praesepe cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Pleiades has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets—something which seems scarcely possible for the Pleiades. One possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalogue than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalogue contained 42 objects, and so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost his list.

Distance

The distance to the Pleiades has been estimated by many methods, as it is an important step in calibrating distance scales for the whole universe. Accurate knowledge of the distance to the Pleiades allows astronomers to plot a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram for the cluster, which, when compared to those plotted for clusters whose distance is not known, allows their distances to be estimated. Other methods can then extend the distance scale from open clusters to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and a cosmic distance ladder can be constructed. Results prior to the launch of the Hipparcos satellite generally found that the Pleiades were about 135 parsecs away from Earth. Hipparcos caused consternation among astronomers by finding a distance of only 118 parsecs by measuring the parallax of stars in the cluster—a technique which should yield the most direct and accurate results. Later work has consistently found that the Hipparcos distance measurement for the Pleiades was in error, but it is not known why the error occurred . The distance to the Pleiades is currently thought to be the higher value of about 135 parsecs , .

Composition

parallax The cluster is about 12 light years in diameter and contains approximately 500 stars in total. It is dominated by young, hot blue stars, up to 14 of which can be seen with the naked eye depending on local observing conditions. The arrangement of the brightest stars is somewhat similar to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The total mass contained in the cluster is estimated to be about 800 solar masses . The cluster contains many brown dwarfs—objects with less than about 8% of the Sun's mass, which are not heavy enough to become proper stars. They may constitute up to 25% of the total population of the cluster, although they contribute less than 2% of the total mass . Astronomers have made great efforts to find and analyse brown dwarfs in the Pleiades and other young clusters—because they are still relatively bright and observable—while brown dwarfs in older clusters have faded and are much more difficult to study. Also present in the cluster are several white dwarfs. Given the young age of the cluster normal stars are not expected to have had time to evolve into white dwarfs, a process which normally takes several billion years. It is believed that, rather than being individual low- to intermediate-mass stars, the progenitors of the white dwarfs must have been high-mass stars in binary systems. Transfer of mass from the higher-mass star to its companion during its rapid evolution would result in a much quicker route to the formation of a white dwarf.

Age and future evolution

Ages for star clusters can be estimated by comparing the H-R diagram for the cluster with theoretical models of stellar evolution, and using this technique, ages for the Pleiades of between 75 and 150 million years have been estimated. The spread in estimated ages is a result of uncertainties in stellar evolution models. In particular, models including a phenomenon known as convective overshoot, in which a convective zone within a star penetrates an otherwise non-convective zone, result in higher apparent ages. Another way of estimating the age of the cluster is by looking at the lowest-mass objects. In normal main sequence stars, lithium is rapidly destroyed in nuclear fusion reactions, but brown dwarfs can retain their lithium. Due to its very low ignition temperature of 2.5 million Kelvin, the highest-mass brown dwarfs will burn lithium eventually, and so determining the highest mass of brown dwarfs still containing lithium in the cluster can give an idea of its age. Applying this technique to the Pleiades gives an age of about 115 million years . Like most open clusters, the Pleiades will not stay gravitationally bound forever, as the component stars are moving faster than the escape velocity of the cluster. Calculations suggest that the cluster will take about 250 million years to disperse.

Reflection nebulosity

escape velocity Under ideal observing conditions, some hint of nebulosity may be seen around the cluster, and this shows up in long-exposure photographs. It is a reflection nebula, caused by dust reflecting the blue light of the hot, young stars. It is often thought that the dust was left over from the formation of the cluster, but at the age of about 100 million years generally accepted for the cluster, almost all the dust originally present would have been dispersed by radiation pressure. Instead, it seems that the cluster is simply passing through a particularly dusty region of the interstellar medium. Studies show that the dust responsible for the nebulosity is not uniformly distributed, but is concentrated mainly in two layers along the line of sight to the cluster. These layers may have been formed by deceleration due to radiation pressure as the dust has moved towards the stars .

Names and technical information

The nine brightest stars of the Pleiades are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Asterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno and Alcyone, along with their parents Atlas and Pleione. As daughters of Atlas, the Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades. The name of the cluster itself is of Greek origin, though of uncertain etymology. Suggested derivations include: from πλει̂ν plein, to sail, making the Pleiades the "sailing ones"; from pleos, full or many; from peleiades, flock of doves; or from the ancient Persian equivalent name of Parvin. The following table gives details of the brightest stars in the cluster: Pronunciation guide: a as in cat (when stressed), or in sofa (when not); ay as in day; ai as in air; e as in pet; ee as in feet; i as in bit; eye as in bite; oh as in bone; s as in hiss. Stress is indicated by an apostrophe after the stressed syllable (af'-ter).

The Pleiades in folklore

Persian The Pleiades' high visibility in the night sky has guaranteed it a special place in many cultures, both ancient and modern. To the Vikings, they were Freya's hens, and their name in many old European languages compares them to a hen with chicks. In Sanskrit Pleiades is known as Krittika nakshatra. According to Indian astrology, those born at a time when the Sun is in Krittika are "stubborn, harsh in speech with uncontrollable fiery temper, this makes them illogical in thoughts, speech and actions. They have strained relations with relatives and friends. However, these persons are glutton, fond of spicy foods, well-versed academically, fond of opposite sex, bright in appearance , miser, worried nature and of widespread fame." In Greek mythology, they represented the Seven Sisters. The Maori of New Zealand call the Pleiades Mataariki, and their heliacal rising signifies the beginning of the new year (around June). The Australian Aborigines believed they were a woman who had been nearly raped by Kidili, the man in the moon. Alternatively, they were seven sisters called the Makara. The Sioux of North America had a legend that linked the origin of the Pleiades to Devils Tower. It was common among the indigenous peoples of the Americas to measure keenness of vision by the number of stars the viewer could see in the Pleiades, a practice which was also used in historical Europe, especially in Greece. In Japan, the Pleiades are known as Subaru, and have given their name to the car manufacturer. In Chinese constellations, they are 昴 mao, the hairy head of the white tiger of the West, while the name of the Hindu God Kartikeya means him of the Pleiades. In Western astrology they represent coping with sorrow and were considered a single one of the medieval fixed stars. As such, they are associated with quartz and fennel, and the kabbalistic sign Image:Agrippa1531_Pleiades.png. The word has acquired a meaning of "multitude", inspiring the name of the French literary movement La Pléiade and an earlier group of Alexandrian poets.

References


- Adams, Joseph D.; Stauffer, John R.; Monet, David G.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Beichman, Charles A. (2001), The Mass and Structure of the Pleiades Star Cluster from 2MASS, The Astronomical Journal, v.121, p.2053
- Basri G., Marcy G. W., Graham J. R. (1996), Lithium in Brown Dwarf Candidates: The Mass and Age of the Faintest Pleiades Stars, Astrophysical Journal v.458, p.600
- Frommert, Hartmut (1998). [http://www.seds.org/messier/m-q&a.html#why_M42-45 "Messier Questions & Answers"]. Retrieved March 1, 2005.
- Gibson, Steven J.; Nordsieck, Kenneth H. (2003), The Pleiades Reflection Nebula. II. Simple Model Constraints on Dust Properties and Scattering Geometry, The Astrophysical Journal, v.589, p. 362
- Michell J. (1767), An Inquiry into the probable Parallax, and Magnitude, of the Fixed Stars, from the Quantity of Light which they afford us, and the particular Circumstances of their Situation, Philosophical Transactions, v. 57, p. 234-264
- Moraux, E.; Bouvier, J.; Stauffer, J. R.; Cuillandre, J.-C. (2003), Brown dwarfs in the Pleiades cluster: Clues to the substellar mass function, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.400, p.891
- Morse, Eric (1988). The Living Stars. London: Amethyst Books.
- Percival, S. M.; Salaris, M.; Groenewegen, M. A. T. (2005), The distance to the Pleiades. Main sequence fitting in the near infrared, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.429, p.887
- Soderblom D.R., Nelan E., Benedict G.F., McArthur B., Ramirez I., Spiesman W., Jones B.F. (2005), Confirmation of Errors in Hipparcos Parallaxes from Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor Astrometry of the Pleiades, The Astronomical Journal, v. 129, pp. 1616-1624.
- Zwahlen, N.; North, P.; Debernardi, Y.; Eyer, L.; Galland, F.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Hummel, C. A. (2004), A purely geometric distance to the binary star Atlas, a member of the Pleiades, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.425, p.L45

External links


- [http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/~gibson/pleiades/ Photos and information on the Pleiades from the University of Calgary]
- [http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m045.html Information on the Pleiades from SEDS]
- [http://www.aao.gov.au/images.html/captions/uks018.html Information and images from the Anglo-Australian Observatory] Category:Messier objects Category:Pleiades Open Cluster Category:Taurus constellation ko:플라이아데스 성단 ja:プレアデス星団

Taurus (constellation)

Taurus (20px, Latin for bull) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It sits large and prominent in the winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga, to the southwest Orion, and to the southeast Eridanus and Cetus.

Notable features

One of the few first magnitude stars in the sky, the bright red Aldebaran, sits in the middle of this constellation. The horns of the bull stretch off to the west, marked by β Tau, traditionally shared with Auriga) and ζ Tau.

Notable deep sky objects

In the east of the constellation lies one of the best known open clusters, easily visible to the eye, the Pleiades. Behind Aldebaran lie the Hyades, the nearest distinct open star cluster, that with it form a V in the sky marking the bull's head. Another object, visible in a telescope, is the Crab Nebula (M1), a supernova remnant northeast of Zeta. The explosion, seen on Earth on July 4, 1054, was bright enough to be seen by day. It is mentioned in Chinese history texts and Native American pottery.

Mythology

The identification of the constellation of Taurus as a bull may be quite old. Dr Michael Rappenglück of the University of Munich [http://www.infis.org/] believes that Taurus is represented in the Hall of the Bulls in the caves at Lascaux. The paintings are some 16,500 years old. One of the painted bulls is near a cluster of dots that looks like the Pleiades, and which is the correct position over its shoulder to be that asterism. The same pattern is found in pits in the floor, which could have been filled with oil and lit to recreate the lights of the Pleiades inside the cave, though there is no evidence that this actually happened. In Greek mythology, this corresponds with the bull-form Zeus took in order to win Europa, a mythical Phoenician princess, and thus father the Minotaur. As such, since it is necessary to traverse the area of sky known as the Sea to reach it when passing through the Zodiac, it forms the origin of the myth of the Cretan Bull, one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

Astrology

The Western astrological sign Taurus of the tropical zodiac (April 20 - May 20) differs from the astronomical constellation and the Hindu astrological sign of the sidereal zodiac (May 14 - June 19). In some cosmologies, Taurus is associated with the classical element Earth, and thus called an Earth Sign (with Virgo and Capricorn). It is one of the four Fixed signs (along with Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius). Its polar opposite is Scorpio. It is the domicile of Venus and the exaltation of the Moon. Each astrological sign is assigned a part of the body, viewed as the seat of its power. Taurus rules the throat and neck. The Taurean symbol is the bull.

Notable and named stars

Source: The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed., The Hipparcos Catalogue, ESA SP-1200

See Also

External links


- [http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/taurus/ The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Taurus]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/871930.stm BBC article on the possibility of Taurus being represented in Lascaux]
- [http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/general/dailyoverview/taurus Taurus Links on Yahoo.com]
- [http://www.astrology.com/ssc/taurus.html?ice=ast,scopes,mssc Taurus Links on Astrology.com]
- [http://www.doublesign.com/astro/western/signs.php?signid=taurus Taurus Links on DoubleSign.com]
- Category:Astrological signs ko:황소자리 ja:おうし座 th:กลุ่มดาววัว

M45 motorway

The M45 is a short stretch of motorway in central England. It runs from Junction 17 of the M1 motorway south east of Rugby and ends with a junction with the A45 road south-west of Rugby. It has one limited-access junction around two-thirds of the way along from the M1, near Dunchurch, which was added in September 1991. The motorway is around 8 miles (12.5 kilometres) long and is one of the least busy parts of the British motorway system. It was built in 1959, when the M1 (as part of a link from London to Birmingham) went as far as Junction 18; the M45 was designed to dissipate some of the motorway traffic before the M1 terminated. Its equivalent at the southern end of the M1 is the M10. In the 1960s it was one of the busiest roads in Britain. However in 1972, the opening of the M6 provided a much faster route through to Birmingham from London. Most traffic diverted to this route, leaving the M45 with only a fraction of its previous traffic. See also: List of motorways in the United Kingdom

External links


- [http://pathetic.org.uk/motorways/m45.shtml Pathetic Motorways]
- [http://cbrd.co.uk/motorway/45.shtml CBRD - Motorway Database] 45 Category:Transport in Warwickshire nb:M45 (motorvei)

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician traders — an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network. The Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.
Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)
Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In the UK, this method of ranking cities is generally used only by people whose own city is promoted by it. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, links England to the European mainland. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel. The largest harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Internationally, it is the second largest harbour in the world, although this fact is disputed (See harbors for a list of other potential second largest harbours) The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 in Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/3153532.stm]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is -26.1 °C (-15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Newport in Shropshire. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/england/#temperature]

Major rivers

Shropshire.]]
- Thames
- Severn
- Trent
- Humber
- Yorkshire Ouse
- Tyne
- Mersey
- Dee
- Avon Main article: Waterways in the United Kingdom

Major Conurbations

:See main article: List of towns in England The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the 15 largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census) #Greater London (8,278,251) #West Midlands (2,284,093) #Greater Manchester (2,244,931) #Leeds/Bradford (1,499,465) #Tyneside (879,996) #Liverpool (816,216) #Nottingham (666,358) #Sheffield (640,720) #Bristol (551,066) #Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (461,181) #Portsmouth (442,252) #Leicester (441,213) #Bournemouth/Poole (383,713) #Reading (369,804) #Teesside (365,323)

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of England, Population of England England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups. It is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, second only to the Netherlands. This population is made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350–550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800–900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650–1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1840–1850 (Irish), 1880–1940 (Irish, Jews), 1950— (Irish, Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985— (citizens of European Community member states especially Ireland, East Europeans, Iranians, Kurds, refugees). The general prosperity of England as the largest partner of the UK, has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This segment of English homogeneous society continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally. The other image of foreign ethnic components in England is still mostly seen as a legacy of the British Empire; especially the Commonwealth of Nations.

English identity

The simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. However, inhabitants of England quite commonly refer to themselves as "British" rather than "English"; centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state (i.e. a British person, institution, custom, city, etc. is assumed English unless specified otherwise). The English frequently include their neighbours in the general term "British" while the Scots and Welsh, proud of their separate identities, tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms. Although currently a part of England, a notable percentage of those living in Cornwall feel similarly, considering themselves Cornish first. One significant exception is in Northern Ireland, where the Unionist community tend to identify very strongly as "British" (Republicans living in the province are more likely to consider themselves "Irish"), and there is not a "Northern Ireland" or "Northern Irish" identity to the same extent as there is (e.g.) a Scottish one. A person, therefore, using the term "English" to describe him or herself (regardless of personal history) may be going out of his or her way to do so; hence he or she may also be seen (rightly or wrongly, and not necessarily pejoratively) as nationalistic. While Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish patriotism are widely exhibited, specifically English patriotism has often been viewed with suspicion, and most English people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with Britain as a whole. However, this may be to avoid being seen as bullies by their neighbours. The extent to which specifically English patriotism is linked to a right-wing xenophobic agenda has also generated discomfort. The appropriation of English symbols by racist far-right organisations such as the National Front made many people uncomfortable with expressions of Englishness. In recent years, English identity has recently been a topic of debate in the national press, with many English people trying to "reclaim" the term and the flag from the far-right. See English nationalism. One notable exception to the above is in relation to sports, in particular Association football, Rugby football and to a lesser extent Cricket. Transient successes are often accompanied by a revival of the use of the "St George's Cross". While it has not yet replaced the "Union Flag" its use is on the increase. Many English people who have spent a lot of time overseas fall into the habit of referring to themselves as "English". It is the most recognisable designation by speakers of many languages, especially where their own language uses a similar word. Even in other English-speaking countries, people are often perplexed by concepts of "British" or the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". All these distinctions are only possible because there is no "English citizenship" or legal definition of Englishness. Moreover, the hazy understanding many people have of the distinction between "England" and "Britain" compounds the confusion. If in doubt, refer to an "English" person as "British": this will always be correct. It may not be as precise as "English", but it will avoid offence in the event the person is actually from a different part of Britain.

Culture

Union Flag Main article: Culture of England
- English literature
  - Sir Thomas Browne
  - Geoffrey Chaucer
  - John Milton
  - William Shakespeare
  - Jane Austen
  - Mary Shelley
  - Charles Dickens
  - Thomas Hardy
  - George Orwell
  - J. R. R. Tolkien
  - C. S. Lewis
  - Douglas Adams
- List of national parks of England and Wales
- Food and Drink
- English folklore
- English art
  - English school of painting
- Music of England

Languages

Music of England.]] As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today (although not officially designated as such). An Indo-European language in Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-French aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies. (Some survive to this day.) But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. The law does not recognise any language as being official, but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). The only non-Anglic native spoken language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the 19th century but has been revived and is spoken in various degrees of fluency by around 3,500 people. This has no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornish/strategy/english/engl01.htm a draft strategy] to develop these plans. There is, however, no programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo-Scottish Border. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 70,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language, but does not give statistics specific to England. Like Cornish, BSL has no official status, but has been granted a degree of recognition by the government. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese and Vietnamese. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a large number of distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country.

Nomenclature

The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names akin to "England":
- "England" (Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian)
- "Engeland" (Dutch)
- "Inglismaa" (Estonian)
- "Angleterre" (French)
- "Inghilterra" (Italian)
- "Inglaterra" (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician)
- "Anglia" (Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian)
- "Anglija" (Russian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Ukrainian)
- "Engleska" (Croatian, Serbian)
- "Αγγλία" ("Anglía") (Greek)
- "Englanti" (Finnish) The Celtic names are quite different:
- "Bro-Saoz" (Breton)
- "Pow Sows" (Cornish)
- "Sasana" (Irish)
- "Sasainn" (Scottish Gaelic)
- "Lloegr" (Welsh) — but "Saeson" for the inhabitants.
- "Sostyn" (Manx Gaelic) Except for Lloegr, which is an ancient geographic term, these names are all derived from the Saxons, another family of Germanic tribes which arrived at about the same time as the Angles. See: Wiktionary:England for a further list of non-English names for England. "England" is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the entire United Kingdom, the island of Great Britain, or the British Isles. This may offend people from other parts of the UK. Frequently the English use the less-specific "Britain" or "the UK", even when "England" is technically correct and commonly also use "England" when "Britain" would be correct. Alternative names include:
- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today — but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time). The inhabitants of England are the English. The slang terms sometimes used for them include "Sassenachs" (from the Scots Gaelic), "Limeys" (in reference to the citrus fruits carried aboard English sailing vessels to prevent scurvy) and "Pom/Pommy" (used in Australian English and New Zealand English), but these may be perceived as offensive. Also see alternative words for British.

Symbols and insignia

alternative words for British.]] The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George's cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (see above), both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy – the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English throne descended down the Angevin line. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross). The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a variety of contexts. Predominantly, this is a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. However, a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a "tudor rose" (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses) may also be used on different occasions. The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.

National anthems

Although England does not have an official anthem of its own, the following are widely regarded as English national hymns:
- "Jerusalem:" Words by William Blake, Music by Hubert Parry
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": Words by Cecil Spring-Rice, Music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": Words by A C Benson, Music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of Great Britain, not only England)
- "Nimrod": Music by Edward Elgar "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem for the UK as a whole) is usually played for English sporting events (e.g. football matches), although "Land of Hope and Glory" has also been used as the English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. "Rule Britannia" despite being a song about Britain as a whole was often used for the English national football team when they play against another of the home nations but more recently "God Save The Queen" has been used by both the rugby and football teams. Many believe that English teams should use their own anthems, most popular of which is the use of "Jerusalem".

References


- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]

See also


-
- English language
- English law
- English (people)
- List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree
- List of English people
- Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named)
- UK topics
- List of not fully sovereign nations
- Education in England

References

External links


- [http://www.enjoyengland.com/ The official website of the English Tourist Board — Enjoy England]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]: articles on England and her neighbours Category:Monarchies Category:European countries als:England zh-min-nan:England ko:잉글랜드 ms:England ja:イングランド simple:England th:แคว้นอังกฤษ

Gearbox

Gearbox can mean several things:
- Gearbox is another name for a transmission.
- Gearbox Software, the maker of the Half-Life expansion packs, Blue Shift and Opposing Force.

Volvo Cars

:This article is about the car company; see Volvo for the whole company. Volvo Volvo Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar, is an automobile maker that was founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden. Volvo, which is Latin for "I roll," was formed as a spin-off from roller ball bearing maker SKF. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1998, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company and placed in its Premier Automotive Group. In the American market, Volvo is marketed as a luxury car, with the intent to compete with Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Saab. In the European market Volvo competes with brands such as Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Subaru, Toyota, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.

Safety

Since the 1950s, Volvo cars have had a reputation for safety, starting in 1944 with the use of laminated glass in the PV model. The PV series cars were also among the first to have what Volvo called a 'safety body' (what is now called a unibody). The Volvo design team invented both the 'safety cage' and 'crumple zone' concept, where passengers are protected in a strong, encircling frame and the energy of a crash is absorbed by destruction of the hood or trunk of the car. Volvo also invented the easy-to-use three-point seatbelt; first introduced as an accessory in 1957 and made standard on all Volvo cars in 1959. All these safety features are now standard in all cars and are responsible for saving millions of lives. Volvo also was the first company to produce cars with padded dashboards starting in late 1956 with their Amazon model. Volvo also developed the first rear-facing child seat in the late 1960s and introduced its own booster seat in 1978. Seatbelt and child seat innovation continued as shown in the 1991 960. The 960 introduced the first three-point seatbelt for the middle of the rear seat and a child safety cushion integrated in the middle armrest. Also in 1991 came the introduction of the Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) on the 940/960 and 850 models, which channeled the force of a side impact away from the doors and into the safety cage. In 1998, Volvo introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent injury of front seat users during collisions. In 2004, Volvo introduced the BLIS system, which detects vehicles entering the Volvo's blind spot with a side view mirror mounted sensor and alerts the driver with a light. That year also saw Volvos sold in all markets equipped with side-marker lights and daytime-running lights (the latter having already been available in many markets for some time). Much of Volvo's safety technology now also goes into other Ford vehicles, such as the Aston Martin DB9. By the mid-1990s there was little to distinguish Volvo from some other manufacturers (notably Renault) on safety when put through tests such as EuroNCAP as other manufacturers caught up when they realised the marketing potential of safety. The Volvo 745 had some severe problems with the C-pillar that could break in collisions even at relatively low speeds. The design was strengthened and the 740 was renamed as the Volvo 940 [http://www.251.org/volvocrash.html] [http://www.vanagon.com/info/safety/volvo-crash/]. Also the production of P1800 had to be stopped because it didn't fulfill US saftey standards. However, Volvo is still considered a leader of innovating safety technology, although it now faces stiff competition in this field. Even today, the Volvo S80 is regarded by many to be the safest mass-produced car in the world.

Acquisitions

In the early 1970s, Volvo acquired the car-making division of the Dutch company DAF, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built Volvo 340, which went on to be one of the biggest-selling cars in the UK market in the 1980s. Volvo, as one of the largest truck manufacturers in the world, took the initiative to sell its automobile manufacturing in 1998 in order to fully focus its efforts on the market for commercial vehicles. Ford, on the other hand saw advantages in acquiring a profitable prestige midsize European automobile manufacturer, well renowned for its safety aspects, as an addition to its Premier Automotive Group. The buyout of Volvo Cars was announced on January 28, 1998 and in the following year acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion USD. Volvo now consists of two parts:
- Volvo - the manufacturing of commercial vehicles, etc. owned by Swedish interests.
- Volvo Cars - the manufacturing of automobiles owned by Ford Motor Company, in its Premier Automotive Group. The Volvo™ trademark is now jointly owned (50/50) by Volvo and Ford. One of the main promotional activities for the trademark is the sailing contest Volvo Ocean Race, formerly the Whitbread Around the World Cup. There is also a Volvo Baltic Race.

Car models

Volvo Baltic Race]

Early ages


- Volvo ÖV 4, aka Jakob
- Volvo PV (PV444 and PV544)
- Volvo Snabbe
- Volvo Trygge
- Volvo Sugga
- Volvo Laplander (L-3304, L-3314, L-3314 and L-3315)
- Volvo PV36
- Volvo PV51
- Volvo PV60
- Volvo Duett
- Volvo Amazon/Volvo 122
- Volvo P1800
- Volvo P1900
- Volvo 66
- Volvo C202
- Volvo C3-series (C303, C304 and C306)

Three-numbered Volvos

Starting with the 140 series in 1968, Volvo used a three number system for their cars. The first number was the series, the second number the number of cylinders and the third number the number of doors; so a 164 was a 1-series with a 6-cylinder engine and 4 doors. However there were exceptions to this rule - the 780 for example, came with turbocharged I4 and V6 gasoline engines and I6 diesel engines, but never an eight cylinder as the 8 would suggest. Similarly, the 760 often was equipped with a turbocharged I4 engine and the Volvo 360 only had four cylinders. The company dropped the meaning of the final digit for later cars like the 740, but the digit continued to identify cars underhood on the identification plate.
- Volvo 140 (Volvo 142, Volvo 144, Volvo 145)
- Volvo 164
- Volvo 240 (Volvo 242, 244, 245)
- Volvo 260 (Volvo 262C, 264, 265)
- Volvo 340 (Volvo 343, 345)
- Volvo 360
- Volvo 440
- Volvo 460
- Volvo 480
- Volvo 740
- Volvo 760
- Volvo 780
- Volvo 850
- Volvo 940
- Volvo 960

Models with current denomination

Today, the company uses a system of letters denoting body style followed by the series number. Although not official, it is fairly accepted that S stands for saloon or sedan, C stands for coupe or convertible and V stands for versatile or estate car. XC stands for cross country originally added to a more rugged V70 model as the V70XC and indicates all wheel drive paired with a raised suspension to give it a mock SUV look. Volvo would later change the name to the XC70 in keeping with its car naming consistent with the XC90. So a V50 is an estate ("V") in the smaller 40/50 series.
- Pre-Ford
  - Volvo S40
  - Volvo V40
  - Volvo S/V70
  - S/V90
- Small cars (Volvo P1 platform)
  - Volvo C30 (2007)
  - Volvo C70 (Second Generation 2005-Current)
  - Volvo S40
  - Volvo V50
- Large cars (Volvo P2 platform)
  - Volvo S60
  - Volvo S80
  - Volvo S90 (Face lifted from the 900 series models)
  - Volvo C70 (First Generation 1997-2005)
  - Volvo V70
- Cross Country
  - Volvo XC50 (Possible future model)
  - Volvo XC60 (Possible future model)
  - Volvo XC70 (Formerly V70XC, based on V70)
  - Volvo XC90

Concept cars


- Volvo SCC
- Volvo VESC
- Volvo YCC
- Volvo ECC

Engine types


- B4B and B14A - fitted into the Volvo PV and Volvo Duett from 1947 to 1956
- B16 (A and B) - fitted into the PV, Duett and Volvo Amazon from 1957 to 1960
- B18 and B20 - 1.8 L/2.0 L OHV 8v fitted into all Volvo models from 1961 to 1974 (and 1975 U.S. Spec 240 models).
- B19,   B21,   and B23 - fitted from 1975
- B200 and B230 - 2.0 L and 2.3 L, respectively, SOHC 8v fitted to 240, 360, 700, 940 series cars from 1985
- B204 and B234 - 2.0 L and 2.3 L DOHC 16 valve engines
- B27/B28 and B280- 2.7 and 2.8 L SOHC 12v developed together with Renault and Peugeot
- B30 - fitted to all 164 models

Transmissions


- AW70
- AW71
- AW72
- M40
- M400
- M410
- M41
- M45
- M46
- M47
- M50
- M51
- M90
- ZF4HP22

External links


- [http://www.volvocars.com/ Volvo Cars] - Official Site
- [http://www.conceptlabvolvo.com/ Volvo Concept Lab] - Volvo Car Corporation's Concept Cars
- [http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Autos/Makes_and_Models/Volvo/ Open Directory on Volvo]
- [http://www.texasvolvoclub.com/ Texas Volvo Club]
- [http://www.vcoa.org/ Volvo Club of America]
- [http://www.brickboard.com/ The Volvo Owner's Resource since 1997.]
- [http://sdvsa.org/ San Diego Volvo Sports America Website]
- [http://swedespeed.com/ SwedeSpeed - Volvo Enthusiast Website and Forum] Category:Companies of Sweden Category:Luxury car manufacturers Category:Volvo Category:Ford
-

Carl Gustaf M/45

The Carl Gustaf M/45 (also known as the Swedish K SMG) is a 9 millimeter Swedish submachine gun developed in 1945 (hence the designation m/45) at the Carl Gustav factory by Swedish weapons designer Gunnar Johnsson. The m/45 was the official submachine gun of the Swedish Army after World War II. The M/45 was also used by American Special Forces in the Vietnam War. It is a fully automatic weapon developed in 1945 from an earlier German submachine gun, the Bergmann MP35, itself developed from the first submachine gun, the Bergmann MP18. The m/45 weighs 3.9 kilograms and is 810 millimeters in length. It fires from an open bolt. Its relatively slow cyclic rate of fire, 600 shots per minute, and low recoil make it easy to handle during full automatic fire. It is accurate to 200 meters. The original version of the m/45 used the 50-round box magazine developed for the m/37-39. Later versions were redesigned to use only the m/45 36-round magazine. This magazine is also used in the Czech model 23 and 25 submachine guns. A six-magazine shoulder bag was issued with these variants of the m/45. The m/45B redesign produced the gun's final variant. The circumferance of the holes in the cooling jacket was reduced and the rear buffer of the bolt was improved. The m/45C is the same weapon with the addition of a special bayonet mount. Another variant, the m/45D, was developed for the Swedish police force; it is the only version with a selective fire option. A special barrel for firing blank cartridges is available for the m/45. It should only be used with blanks and lower powered indoor (black bullet) ammunition. A bullet trap may be attached to the barrel when using blanks. A special barrel for training was also made. The special barrel would take .22 bullets that were designed to have the same ballistics as the 9 mm. Other extras was an addition to catch the spent cartridges for recycling and a speed loader. It is a robust and simple design still in use in the Swedish army. It has also been manufactured under license in Indonesia and Egypt as the Port Said. Smith & Wesson in the USA also made a copy of the gun under the name S&W model 76. It was also manufactured by the MK Arms company as the Mk-760.

External links


- [http://www.nazarian.no/wep.asp?id=382&group_id=4&country_id=67&lang=0 Nazarian`s Gun`s Recognition Guide] Category:Submachine guns Category:Weapons of Sweden

Genetic marker

A genetic marker is a specific discovered single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP (or simply "mutation") of certain section of DNA of a specific genome. The SNP can either be associated with a known genetic disease, or, it can be in junk DNA that occurs in many individuals and thus be useful for population studies. For the later case, such a mutation would have had to have originated many of hundreds of generations previously and become widespread. Another kind of genetic marker would be a counted short tandem repeats (STRs), where the exact counts are generally inherited. Genetic markers are used in the studies of populations, such as studies of the migrations of peoples. In particular, genetic markers associated with the Y-chromosome persist along paternal lines and the genetic markers identified in mitochondrial DNA persist along maternal lines. Note that the Y-chromosome has about 25 million base pairs where mitochondrial DNA has about 16 thousand. This persistence is due to the fact that the Y-chromosome in male offspring and the mitochondria in all offspring are clones of the corresponding parent. Note that these SNP's are often in a region of junk DNA and so have no known impact on expressed genetic traits and no implications for biological function. STRs on the Y-chromosome are also widely used and are known as DNA Y-chromosome Segment (DYS). They necessarily fall in the category of junk DNA. A paternal example of a genetic marker would be the M343 marker. This mutation would have originated in a Y chromosome replication in a cell of an individual male and then ended up in at least one of his sperm cells which subsequently achieved fertilization in his mate and live birth of a male offspring th:เครื่องหมายทางพันธุกรรม

Michigan State Highway 45

The Michigan State Highway 45, known as the M-45, is a major American highway which was originally part of M-50 until the mid-1960s. The entire route is named Lake Michigan Drive. A portion of Lake Michigan drive isn't part of M-45. It is the area between Interstate 196 and U.S. Highway 131. In the area between Winter Ave. and Summer Ave. in downtown Grand Rapids, the street curves. Lake Michigan Dr. is west of the curve. Pearl St. is east of the curve. Pearl St. provides access to US-131. It runs through several townships in Ottawa County, Michigan, passes the Grand Valley State University campus in Allendale, Michigan, crosses the Grand River, and continues through Tallmadge Township, Michigan. In Kent County, Michigan, it continues through the city of Walker, Michigan before ending in Grand Rapids.

Lane configurations


- U.S. Highway 31 in Agnew to just west of 68th Ave. in Allendale: One lane in each direction.
- 68th Ave. in Allendale to 24th Ave. in Tallmadge Township: Two lanes in each direction with a median. Michigan Left is required at most intersections.
- 24th Ave. in Tallmadge Township to I-196: Two lanes in each direction with a center left turn lane, except at the intersection with Covell Ave, which has a median.

Junctions


- U.S. Highway 31 - Agnew, Michigan.
- Michigan State Highway 11 - Walker, Michigan.
- Interstate 196 - Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Western terminus

Its current western terminus is at U.S. Highway 31 in Agnew, Michigan, although Lake Michigan Drive ends at Lake Michigan.

Eastern terminus

Its current eastern terminus is at Interstate 196 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

External links


- [http://www.state-ends.com/michigan/m45/ M-45 Endpoint Photos] 045

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