M31, M32, and M33 are members of the Local Group, an assemblage of more than 54 galaxies in the neighborhood of the Milky Way, the galaxy which contains our solar system. Like the Milky Way, M31 and M33 are spiral galaxies, whereas M32 is a dwarf elliptical galaxy. Of the three, M31, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, is the largest, with a mass that has been estimated in recent studies to be equal to or greater than that of the Milky Way. Comprised primarily of older faint stars, M32 is a substantially smaller galaxy and a satellite of Andromeda. M33, known as the Triangulum Galaxy, is more distant and less massive than Andromeda and is believed to have collided with that galaxy in the past.      The attributes of these four galaxies may reflect their past interactions and are likely to shape future encounters. For example, astronomers are not currently sure how M32's compact ellipsoid shape took form, but they suspect that M32 may have had a spiral shape earlier that was transformed by a tidal field from Andromeda into its current elliptical shape. Meanwhile, Triangulum and Andromeda are connected by a stream of hydrogen and stars, which is evidence that the two galaxies have interacted in the past between 2 and 8 billion years ago. Finally, among the trio M31, M33 and the Milky, every pair is potentially on a collision course compelled by gravity. Triangulum might be ripped apart and absorbed by M31, it might collide with the Milky Way before the latter has any violent interaction with Andromeda, or it might participate in the collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, which is expected to occur in about 4 billion years.    

     Birds of various species, from pigeons to swallows to larger birds, can navigate long distances on Earth, across continents and hemispheres. That they can traverse these distances thanks to a magnetic sense has been demonstrated through tests in which birds fitted with magnets have lost their navigational capability. Precisely what biological mechanism enables birds to orient in this way is still something of a mystery, however, with two theories prevailing.      One theory is that birds possess magnetic sensors in the form of grains of magnetite, which is an easily magnetized form of iron oxide. Such magnetite grains are common not only in animals but even in bacteria, where they have been established as a component enabling magnetic orientation. In the case of birds, magnetite grains are numerous in beaks, as dissections of pigeons have confirmed. Moreover, in another experiment, the trigeminal nerve, which connects the beak to the brain, was severed in reed warblers; the affected birds lost their sense of magnetic dip, which is critical to navigation.      Critics of the theory have pointed out that the abundance of grains in the beak are not concentrated, as would be expected in a sensory organ, but rather found in wandering macrophages. And while an alternative explanation for birds' sensory abilities might posit magnetite grains outside of the beak, such an explanation would be supported neither by the beak dissections nor by the tests of severed trigeminals. Critics of magnetite-centric theories suggest a second theory: that the magnetic field of the Earth has an influence on a chemical reaction in birds, specifically in a bird's retina. Experiments have demonstrated that destroying the portion of a robin's retina known as cluster N eliminates the bird's ability to detect north. Birds' eyes do not contain magnetite grains, however. Rather, some advocates of the theory that birds navigate by retinal interaction believe that a retinal protein known as cryptochrome processes magnetic information within the cluster N. Surprisingly, the mechanism by which cryptochrome could detect magnetic orientation depends on quantum mechanics: when hit by light, the cryptochrome would create a pair of particles, one of which subsequently presents information to the eye, in the form of a spot, when it is triggered a corresponding particle after that particle has traveled some distance.    

     The stock market tends to move in response to the monthly release of the U.S. consumer confidence index (CCI), signaling that individuals make investment decisions on the basis of this information. Such behavior is mostly irrational. The CCI is generally understood to be a lagging indicator; by the time the CCI has been released, the stock market should have already reflected the latest adjustments to its prices based on consumer sentiment. Furthermore, the CCI, to the degree that it reflects on the stock market, reflects only on the stock market as a whole, not on individual stocks. The questions that make up the CCI, indeed, gauge individual levels of confidence about factors, such as employment rates, that should have little direct bearing on most individual stocks relative to other factors. To dampen the influence of the CCI on the stock market, the Conference Board, the nonprofit group that reveals the information each month, should adjust its timetable in order to publish the CCI outside of stock market hours. In that case, the impact of the CCI on stock market prices would be smoothed and would be more likely to reflect individual investors' business estimates, rather than their animal whims.    

     Billions of people in the world suffer from water scarcity. The problem is not a lack of suitable water in the world; it is an uneven distribution of that water—an uneven distribution, to be more exact, of the resources and facilities needed to manage water, as well as the natural sources of water themselves. It has been estimated that a billion people lack access to potable water, and 2.4 billion lack access to the basic sanitation that is necessary for basic water usage.      In the case of the domestic shortage of water, which is small in demand relative to commercial uses of water, the problem is not so much that there are no water resources, but that those without water lack the political and financial capital to access that water. Granted, natural forces do play a role. In regions of need, terrestrial water resources may be distributed quite unevenly, leaving large populations at great distances without such sources, and rainwater may fall only sporadically throughout the course of a given year. In such regions, making water accessible is costlier and may require considerable investment in infrastructure.      I would like to propose a radical measure to address water shortage, especially in African countries. I suggest that multinational soft drink companies be given incentives to enter the countries afflicted by water shortage and invest in the development of the water infrastructure. This proposal is not as absurd as it may first sound. First of all, most major soft drink companies nowadays are also in the business of selling bottled water; they have expertise in purification and other relevant knowledge areas. Second, the soft drink industry is among the very first industries to penetrate and profit in emerging markets, because of the general appeal and low price of their product. Moreover, the more a given economy develops, the more that particular soft drink provider stands to profit. In other words, soft drink companies have both the capability to help and some interest to operate in a given country that needs assistance.      You may object that soft drink companies already would have entered a country to help if they had seen benefit in doing so. That critique may be true, but it does not necessarily mean that a company could not be driven to action through direct financial incentives, partial ownership of constructed infrastructure, assistance from international organizations and pressure from more developed neighboring countries in which that company already has an entrenched interest. Moreover, to the criticism that infrastructure building is the work of governments, not companies, there is a valid response: partnerships between governments and corporations have thrived for centuries in major projects and could benefit both the people and involved corporations in this case, as well.

   In a recent telephone survey of over 6,000 Americans, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has concluded that African Americans' usage of Internet technology lags behind that of whites. Survey respondents who identified as African Americans trailed whites by seven percentage points in use of the Internet; 87% of whites and 80% of blacks are Internet users. Moreover, 74% of white respondents had broadband Internet access in their home, whereas 62% of black respondents had such access.      Although the Pew survey appears to draw on a representative slice of Americans using careful survey methods, its results may suffer from having answered an inherently misleading question. The survey found, for example, that black and white Internet usage and access is identical once other variables are controlled. Namely, 86% of African Americans respondents aged 18-29 were home broadband adopters, as were 88% of African American college graduates and 91% of blacks with an annual household income of $75,000 or more per year. These figures were not only well above the national average for broadband adoption, but, more to the point, they were identical to whites of similar ages, incomes, and education levels. It follows that Internet adoption has nothing to do with race per se and everything to do with some or all of the factors age, education, and household income. If Internet adoption correlates primarily with household income, as other studies of technology would suggest, then the survey in question does little more than lead us back to the fact that African Americans have a lower average household income than white Americans--a fact which has already been established. Nevertheless, the Pew study is a confirmation and a reminder of the fact that the current income difference between whites and blacks in America is having an impact on African Americans' access to technology and to the benefits that accrue from efficient access to the Internet.  

Antitrust laws - statutes that supposedly keep any one firm or group of firms from dominating the marketplace - are thought by some to be the bulwark of free enterprise. These laws are founded on the idea that without the continued vig

. Collectively, such laws not only have a negative effect on economic efficiency, but also negatively affect the appropriate distribution of wealth and income in society and the allocation of political and consumer power and rights.

Often, antitrust laws are fluid, non-objective and retroactive. Because of murky statutes and conflicting case law, companies can never be sure what constitutes permissible behavior. Normal business practices - price discounts, product improvements and exclusive contracting - can somehow morph into an antitrust violation when examined by government antitrust regulators. Companies can be accused of monopolistic price gouging for charging more than their competitors, or accused of predatory pricing for charging less, or accused of collusion for charging the same.

In one of the most brazen examples of misuse of antitrust laws for competitive and strategic benefit, Digital Equipment Corp. filed a lawsuit against Intel in 1990, when the firm`s attempt to persuade Intel to incorporate Digital Equipment`s technology as part of its next-generation chip design ended in failure. Alpha, then Digital`s flagship product, was at the time the fastest chip in the industry. In spite of Alpha`s relative superiority, more computers, including computers manufactured by Digital itself, employed Intel`s lower-powered Pentium chip than Digital`s counterpart. In 1997, Digital threatened Intel with antitrust action in a bold attempt to reposition itself in the computer industry. Robert B. Palmer, Digital`s chief executive, denied analysts` suggestions that the lawsuit was in fact a veiled strategic effort to prevent Intel from developing competing technology in the microprocessor market.

There were several factors that led to the downfall of the Tughlaq Empire. The Tughlaq empire was a Turkic dynasty of Delhi sultanate, whose reign started in the fourteenth century in Delhi. Around the year 1321, Ghiyas Tughlaq ascended the throne and was given the title Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq. The Tughlaq dynasty was able to hold its rule because it had their strong allies like the Turks, Afghans and the Muslim warriors of south Asia. The Tughlaqs established the most extensive empire among the Delhi Sultanate. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq took advantage of a previous conquest of the south and annexed a larger part of it. His son, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, contributed most towards the extension of the Empire both as a prince and a Sultan. But the process of disintegration began during his reign. He became notorious for ill-advised policy experiments such as shifting the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and introducing copper coins without effective regulation against forgery. Tughluqi has as a result become a synonym for brilliant if stubborn eccentricity in the Urdu language. The annexation of the south, the failures of Muhammad Tughlaq, the weakness of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the incompetence

of his successors, the incompetence and demoralization of the nobility, and the invasion of Timur were the chief factors responsible for the downfall of this vast Empire.

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq waged a gruesome battle against Khusrao Khan, who killed the last Khilji ruler. His successful defense against the Mongols made him an able ruler and the founder of a dynasty in India. He conquered many areas including the eastern portion of Bengal, a huge territory. In addition, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq adopted the policy of annexing the conquered territories of the south, which was p

of his successors, the incompetence and demoralization of the nobility, and the invasion of Timur were the chief factors responsible for the downfall of this vast Empire.

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq waged a gruesome battle against Khusrao Khan, who killed the last Khilji ruler. His successful defense against the Mongols made him an able ruler and the founder of a dynasty in India. He conquered many areas including the eastern portion of Bengal, a huge territory. In addition, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq adopted the policy of annexing the conquered territories of the south, which was p

d Tughlaq. But this measure was against the permanent interest of the empire. Because of the lack of efficient transportation, it was difficult for the rulers of the north to keep the south under control for long. Thus the south became independent during the later period of Muhammad Tughlaq. The conquest of the south brought no advantages to the Tughlaqs. On the contrary, it adversely affected the resources and the strength of the Empire.

One of the most controversial rulers in India, Mohammed bin Tughlaq was the successor of Ghazi Tughlaq. Under his rule, the empire spread and his reign grew. Many theorize that he was a brilliant person who had full command over mathematics and medicine. Yet, he was considered crazy by members of his court. He was known to mete out very cruel and brutal punishment to people who were found guilty of even small offenses. Eventually, Muhammad Tughlaq failed both in his internal and foreign policy. While Bengal and the south regained independence and the hold of the Delhi Sultanate became weak over Gujarat and Sindh, no significant territor

on, his policies and severe measures resulted in widespread revolts and further taxed the energy and resources of the empire.

While the wait continues for a decision in the long-running Google Book Search (GBS) lawsuit and settlement proposal, a new study throws cold water on the idea that Google Book Search is bad for the publishing industry. The study suggests that Google`s scanning and digital previews of books may be helping publishers sell more books. The study, published last month by Hannibal Travis, an Associate Law Professor at the Florida International University College of Law, examines the revenues and operating incomes of U.S. publishers that claim they will be most affected by the settlement and "finds no evidence of a negative impact upon them." The study has found no support for an imminent monopoly by Google over books. Publishers of printed books continue to increase their sales and profits. Their rate of sales growth has increased since the scanning of books into GBS by Google. Book sales are growing faster than retail sales or the economy as a whole. These findings suggest that the benefits of digital libraries to American students and persons of limited disposable income, in terms of accessibility of information about and inside books, need not be sacrificed to save publishers from "Napsterization" and the loss of their customers. Moreover, the potential gains in economic efficiency, freedom of expression, and global democratization represented by digital libraries like GBS are more likely to outweigh any damage done by GBS to publishers.

Yet there are also many ways these studies underestimate the magnitude of the publishing industry`s hardship. Even assuming that digitization inherently is not bad for the industry, reliance on technology can cause several immediate and future complications. Though there are no immediate technical problems, forms of media and file types change frequently. One would be hard-pressed to find a way to play an 8-track cassette or Betamax videotape today, and likewise digitization software designed for earlier operating systems is often rendered inoperable in just a few years. Differences in display hardware will also contribute to altered perceptions of the reader. Digital copying also creates a host of legal implications under the U.S. Copyright Act.

As a result of such contradictory evidence, it is uncertain whether the publishing industry will suffer seriously as a result of mass digitization of books and, hence, whether the GBS should be supported or stemmed. There is only one area of agreement in this debate - that the existing research and studies are inadequate for measuring the impact of digitization on the publishing industry.

Dinosaurs have fascinated and baffled paleontologists and evolutionary biologists for decades. How such gigantic animals, some of which weighed over ten tons and stood over 50 feet tall, could be so agile and energetic and how exactly did these creatures regulate their body temperature are some of the questions that remain under debate to this day.

Current studies of dinosaur fossils suggest that they were warm-blooded. While their leathery skin, skull shape, and counter-balancing tails are reptilian, their overall anatomy, suggests that they evolved from cold-blooded ancestors into a warm-blooded species. Unlike cold-blooded reptiles, whose legs are generally sprawled outwards, dinosaurs had legs that extended straight below the pelvis. They also had four-chambered hearts, a characteristic feature of warm-blooded animals that is almost never seen in modern reptilians.

The dinosaurs resembled both reptiles and mammals in their physiology. In fact, dinosaurs are often seen as the link between reptilian and mammalian species. Both mammals and dinosaurs have numerous tiny holes called "nutrient foramina" in their femoral bones. These foramina supply blood and nutrients to the living bone cells within. This is a feature of warm-blooded animals with a high metabolic rate and an active lifestyle. In dinosaurs, these foramina were found to be much larger and more numerous than those found in mammals, suggesting that dinosaurs were actually much more agile and active than mammals.

Several paleontologists also argue that dinosaurs must have been warm-blooded because standing erect requires the body to generate enough of its own heat and not rely on the ground for warmth (as lizards, snakes and alligators do). Moreover, a predator as large as some dinosaurs would have to be unusually nimble and quick in its movements. Such activity would require a high metabolic rate, which in turn suggests that dinosaurs were, indeed, warm-blooded.

Many have attempted to explain how dinosaurs became extinct. Some speculate that they were unable to adapt to the withdrawal of the second ice-age, some say they were wiped out by a meteorite, a few even argue that the extremely steep growth curve of dinosaurs might somehow have contributed to the end of this magnificent species. Each theory has its own shortcomings. The first one does not take into account the fact that dinosaurs had withstood the climatic changes brought about by the first ice age. The second theory seems unlikely because several contemporary species survived while the dinosaurs became extinct. The third one assumes that all types of dinosaurs grew at the same rate. Smaller dinosaurs, some of which grew only to a height of six inches, would have had a much slower rate of growth. Their extinction cannot be explained by this theory alone.

If $\frac{4-2y}{2+y}=y$, what is the value of $y^2+4y+4$?

A company's profits obtained from Product A, Product B, and Product C are in the ratio 47:1:2, respectively. If the total profits from these three products is $16,000, what is the profit from Product C?

The diagram above shows the path of a projectile fired from raised platform A at a target at point C, which lies 100 feet from the base of the platform. The projectile fell short, impacting at point B. If AB = 90 feet, by what distance, in feet, did the projectile fall short of its target?

The average (arithmetic mean) of 110, 30, and 85 is 10 less than the average of 40, 100, and what number?

The ratio of the height of a regular cylindrical container to the radius of its base is approximately 4.3 to 3. If the radius of the base is 6 meters, what is the approximate height of the container, in meters?

What is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by every odd integer between 1 and 10, inclusive?

A store sold 50 sweaters, which usually are priced at x dollars, at 15 percent below the normal price. In terms of x, what was the total revenue from the sale of the sweaters?

On a fishing expedition, the total weight of Eduardo's two heaviest catches was 30 pounds. If twice the weight of the first of those catches was 12 pounds more than the weight of the second, what was the weight, in pounds, of the first?

In the rectangular coordinate system above, A is at the origin, B has coordinates (1, 0), and line L is a line parallel to AB that passes through (0, 5). If a point C along line L is chosen to form a triangle with the segment AB, what is the area of triangle ABC?

$1-\left(\frac{2}{3}-\frac{3}{4}\right)$=