text:
Cookie

A cookie (American English) or biscuit (British English) is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.

Most English-speaking countries call crunchy cookies "biscuits", except for the United States and Canada, where "biscuit" refers to a type of quick bread. Chewier biscuits are sometimes called "cookies" even in the United Kingdom. Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars.

Biscuit or cookie variants include sandwich biscuits, such as custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, Bourbons, and Oreos, with marshmallows or jam filling and sometimes dipped in chocolate or another sweet coating. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee, or tea and sometimes dunked, an approach which releases more flavour from confections by dissolving the sugars, while also softening their texture. Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery stores, convenience stores, and vending machines. Fresh-baked cookies are sold at bakeries and coffeehouses.

Terminology
In many English-speaking countries outside North America, including the United Kingdom, the most common word for a crisp cookie is "biscuit". The term "cookie" is normally used to describe chewier ones. However, in many regions both terms are used. The container used to store cookies may be called a cookie jar.

In Scotland, the term "cookie" is sometimes used to describe a plain bun.

Cookies that are baked as a solid layer on a sheet pan and then cut, rather than being baked as individual pieces, are called bar cookies in American English or traybakes in British English.

Etymology
The word cookie dates from at least 1701 in Scottish usage where the word meant "plain bun", rather than thin baked good, and so it is not certain whether it is the same word. From 1808, the word "cookie" is attested "...in the sense of "small, flat, sweet cake" in American English. The American use is derived from Dutch koekje "little cake", which is a diminutive of "koek" ("cake"), which came from the Middle Dutch word "koke". Another claim is that the American name derives from the Dutch word koekje or more precisely its informal, dialect variant koekie which means little cake, and arrived in According to the Scottish National Dictionary, its Scottish name may derive from the diminutive form (+ suffix -ie) of the word cook, giving the Middle Scots cookie, cooky or cu(c)kie. There was much trade and cultural contact across the North Sea between the Low Countries and Scotland during the Middle Ages, which can also be seen in the history of curling and, perhaps, golf.

Description
Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or else for just long enough to ensure a soft interior. Other types of cookies are not baked at all, such as varieties of peanut butter cookies that use solidified chocolate rather than set eggs and wheat gluten as a binder. Cookies are produced in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts, or dried fruits.

A general theory of cookies may be formulated in the following way. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Water in cakes serves to make the batter as thin as possible, the better to allow bubbles—responsible for a cake's fluffiness—to form. In the cookie the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Oils, whether in the form of butter, vegetable oils, or lard, are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a far higher temperature. Thus a cake made with butter or eggs in place of water is much denser after removal from the oven.

Rather than evaporating as water does in a baking cake, oils in cookies remain. These oils saturate the cavities created during baking by bubbles of escaping gases. These gases are primarily composed of steam vaporized from the egg whites and the carbon dioxide released by heating the baking powder. This saturation produces the most texturally attractive feature of the cookie, and indeed all fried foods: crispness saturated with a moisture (namely oil) that does not render soggy the food it has soaked into.

History
Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking is documented, in part because they survive travel very well, but they were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern standards.

Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors. The first documented instance of the figure-shaped gingerbread man was at the court of Elizabeth I of England in the 16th century. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests.

With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble, a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.

Cookies came to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the late 1620s. The Dutch word "koekje" was Anglicized to "cookie" or cooky. The earliest reference to cookies in America is in 1703, when "The Dutch in New York provided...'in 1703...at a funeral 800 cookies...

The modern form of cookies, which is based on creaming butter and sugar together, did not appear commonly until the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution in Britain and the consumers it created saw cookies (biscuits) become products for the masses, and firms such as Huntley & Palmers (formed in 1822), McVitie's (formed in 1830) and Carr's (formed in 1831) were all established. The decorative biscuit tin, invented by Huntley & Palmers in 1831, saw British cookies exported around the world. In 1891, Cadbury filed a patent for a chocolate-coated cookie.

Classification
Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed or made, including at least these categories:
 * Bar cookies consist of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan (sometimes in multiple layers) and cut into cookie-sized pieces after baking. In British English, bar cookies are known as "tray bakes". Examples include brownies, fruit squares, and bars such as date squares.
 * Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. Chocolate chip cookies (Toll House cookies), oatmeal raisin (or other oatmeal-based) cookies, and rock cakes are popular examples of drop cookies. This may also include thumbprint cookies, for which a small central depression is created with a thumb or small spoon before baking to contain a filling, such as jam or a chocolate chip. In the UK, the term "cookie" often refers only to this particular type of product.
 * Filled cookies are made from a rolled cookie dough filled with a fruit, jam or confectionery filling before baking. Hamantashen are a filled cookie.
 * Molded cookies are also made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies are examples of molded cookies. Some cookies, such as hermits or biscotti, are molded into large flattened loaves that are later cut into smaller cookies.
 * No-bake cookies are made by mixing a filler, such as cereal or nuts, into a melted confectionery binder, shaping into cookies or bars, and allowing to cool or harden. Oatmeal clusters and rum balls are no-bake cookies.
 * Pressed cookies are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various decorative shapes before baking. Spritzgebäck is an example of a pressed cookie.
 * Refrigerator cookies (also known as icebox cookies) are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to make the raw dough even stiffer before cutting and baking. The dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before baking. Pinwheel cookies and those made by Pillsbury are representative.
 * Rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Gingerbread men are an example.
 * Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling. Fillings include marshmallow, jam, and icing. The Oreo cookie, made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling, is an example.

Other types of cookies are classified for other reasons, such as their ingredients, size, or intended time of serving:
 * Breakfast cookies are typically larger, lower-sugar cookies filled with "heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats" that are eaten as a quick breakfast snack.
 * Low-fat cookies or diet cookies typically have lower fat than regular cookies.
 * Raw cookie dough is served in some restaurants, though the eggs may be omitted since the dough is eaten raw, which could pose a salmonella risk if eggs were used. Cookie Dough Confections in New York City is a restaurant that has a range of raw cookie dough flavors, which are scooped into cups for customers like ice cream.
 * Skillet cookies are big cookies that are cooked in a cast-iron skillet and served warm, while they are still soft and chewy. They are either eaten straight from the pan or cut into wedges, often with vanilla ice cream on top.
 * Supersized cookies are large cookies such as the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie. These very large cookies are sold at grocery stores, restaurants and coffeeshops.
 * Vegan cookies can be made with flour, sugar, nondairy milk, and nondairy margarine. Aquafaba icing can be used to decorate the cookies.
 * Cookie cakes are made in a larger circular shape usually with writing made of frosting.

Reception
Leah Ettman from Nutrition Action has criticized the high-calorie count and fat content of supersized cookies, which are extra large cookies; she cites the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie, a supersized chocolate chip cookie, which measures 5 1/2 inches in diameter and has 800 calories. For busy people who eat breakfast cookies in the morning, Kate Bratskeir from the Huffington Post recommends lower-sugar cookies filled with "heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats". A book on nutrition by Paul Insel et al. notes that "low-fat" or "diet cookies" may have the same number of calories as regular cookies, due to added sugar.

Popular culture
There are a number of slang usages of the term "cookie". The slang use of "cookie" to mean a person, "especially an attractive woman" is attested to in print since 1920. The catchphrase "that's the way the cookie crumbles", which means "that's just the way things happen" is attested to in print in 1955. Other slang terms include "smart cookie" and "tough cookie." According to The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, a smart cookie is "someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations." The word "cookie" has been vulgar slang for "vagina" in the US since 1970. The word "cookies" is used to refer to the contents of the stomach, often in reference to vomiting (e.g., "pop your cookies", a 1960s expression, or "toss your cookies", a 1970s expression). The expression "cookie cutter", in addition to referring literally to a culinary device used to cut rolled cookie dough into shapes, is also used metaphorically to refer to items or things "having the same configuration or look as many others" (e.g., a "cookie cutter tract house") or to label something as "stereotyped or formulaic" (e.g., an action movie filled with "generic cookie cutter characters"). "Cookie duster" is a whimsical expression for a mustache.

Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite for cookies and his famous eating phrases, such as "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!" (or simply "COOKIE!"), and "Om nom nom nom" (said through a mouth full of food).

Cookie Clicker is a game where players click a cookie to buy upgrades to make more cookies.

Notable varieties

 * Alfajor
 * Angel Wings (Chruściki)
 * Animal cracker
 * Anzac biscuit
 * Berger cookie
 * Berner Haselnusslebkuchen
 * Biscotti
 * Biscuit rose de Reims
 * Black and white cookie
 * Blondie
 * Bourbon biscuit
 * Brownie
 * Butter cookie
 * Chocolate chip cookie
 * Chocolate-coated marshmallow treat
 * Congo bar
 * Digestive biscuit
 * Fat rascal
 * Fattigmann
 * Flies graveyard
 * Florentine biscuit
 * Fortune cookie
 * Fruit squares and bars (date, fig, lemon, raspberry, etc.)
 * Ginger snap
 * Gingerbread house
 * Gingerbread man
 * Graham cracker
 * Hamentashen
 * Hobnob biscuit
 * Joe Frogger
 * Jumble
 * Kifli
 * Koulourakia
 * Krumkake
 * Linzer cookie
 * Macaroon
 * Meringue
 * Nice biscuit
 * Oatmeal raisin cookie
 * Pastelito
 * Peanut butter blossom cookie
 * Peanut butter cookie
 * Pepparkakor
 * Pfeffernüsse
 * Pizzelle
 * Polvorón
 * Qurabiya
 * Rainbow cookie
 * Ranger Cookie
 * Rich tea
 * Riposteria
 * Rosette
 * Rum ball
 * Rusk
 * Russian tea cake
 * Rock cake
 * Sablé
 * Sandbakelse
 * Şekerpare
 * Shortbread
 * Snickerdoodle
 * Speculoos
 * Springerle
 * Spritzgebäck (Spritz)
 * Stroopwafel
 * Sugar cookie
 * Tea biscuit
 * Toruń gingerbread
 * Tuile
 * Wafer
 * Windmill cookie

Related pastries and confections

 * Acıbadem kurabiyesi
 * Animal crackers
 * Berliner (pastry)
 * Bun
 * Candy
 * Cake
 * Churro
 * Cracker (food)
 * Cupcake
 * Danish pastry
 * Doughnut
 * Funnel cake
 * Galette
 * Graham cracker
 * Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme
 * Kit Kat
 * Halvah
 * Ladyfinger (biscuit)
 * Lebkuchen
 * Mille-feuille
 * Marzipan
 * Mille-feuille (Napoleon)
 * Moon pie
 * Pastry
 * Palmier
 * Petit four
 * Rum ball
 * S'more
 * Snack cake
 * Tartlet
 * Teacake
 * Teething biscuit
 * Whoopie pie

Manufacturers

 * Arnott's Biscuits
 * Bahlsen
 * Burton's Foods
 * D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Company
 * DeBeukelaer
 * Famous Amos (division of Ferrero)
 * Fazer
 * Fox's Biscuits
 * Interbake Foods
 * Jules Destrooper
 * Keebler
 * Lance
 * Lotte Confectionery (division of Lotte)
 * Lotus Bakeries
 * McKee Foods
 * Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd.
 * Mrs. Fields
 * Nabisco (division of Mondelēz International)
 * Nestlé
 * Northern Foods
 * Otis Spunkmeyer (division of Aryzta)
 * Pillsbury (division of General Mills)
 * Pinnacle Foods
 * Pepperidge Farm (division of Campbell Soup Company)
 * Royal Dansk (division of Kelsen Group)
 * Sunshine Biscuits (historical)
 * United Biscuits
 * Walkers Shortbread
 * Utz Brands

Product lines and brands

 * Animal Crackers (Nabisco, Keebler, Cadbury, Bahlsen, others)
 * Anna's (Lotus)
 * Archway Cookies (Lance)
 * Barnum's Animals (Nabisco)
 * Betty Crocker (General Mills, cookie mixes)
 * Biscoff (Lotus)
 * Chips Ahoy! (Nabisco)
 * Chips Deluxe (Keebler)
 * Danish Butter Cookies (Royal Dansk)
 * Duncan Hines (Pinnacle, cookie mixes)
 * Famous Amos (Kellogg)
 * Fig Newton (Nabisco)
 * Fox's Biscuits (Northern)
 * Fudge Shoppe (Keebler)
 * Girl Scout cookie (Keebler, Interbake)
 * Hello Panda (Meiji)
 * Hit (Bahlsen)
 * Hydrox (Sunshine, discontinued by Keebler)
 * Jaffa Cakes (McVitie)
 * Jammie Dodgers (United)
 * Koala's March (Lotte)
 * Leibniz-Keks (Bahlsen)
 * Little Debbie (McKee)
 * Lorna Doone (Nabisco)
 * Maryland Cookies (Burton's)
 * McVitie's (United)
 * Milano (Pepperidge Farm)
 * Nilla Wafers (Nabisco)
 * Nutter Butter (Nabisco)
 * Oreo (Nabisco)
 * Pillsbury (General Mills, cookie mixes)
 * Pecan Sandies (Keebler)
 * Peek Freans (United)
 * Pirouline (DeBeukelaer)
 * Stauffer's (Meiji)
 * Stella D'Oro (Lance)
 * Sunshine (Keebler)
 * Teddy Grahams (Nabisco)
 * Toll House (Nestle)
 * Tim Tam (Arnott's)
 * Vienna Fingers (Keebler)

Miscellaneous

 * Christmas cookie
 * Cookie cutter
 * Cookie dough
 * Cookie exchange
 * Cookie Clicker
 * Cookie Monster
 * Cookie sheet
 * Cookie table
 * Cookies and cream
 * Girl Scout cookie

title: Cookie


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Common Gateway Interface

In computing, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is an interface specification that enables web servers to execute an external program to process HTTP or HTTPS user requests.

Such programs are often written in a scripting language and are commonly referred to as CGI scripts, but they may include compiled programs.

A typical use case occurs when a web user submits a web form on a web page that uses CGI. The form's data is sent to the web server within an HTTP request with a URL denoting a CGI script. The web server then launches the CGI script in a new computer process, passing the form data to it. The CGI script passes its output, usually in the form of HTML, to the Web server, and the server relays it back to the browser as its response to the browser's request.

Developed in the early 1990s, CGI was the earliest common method available that allowed a web page to be interactive. Due to a necessity to run CGI scripts in a separate process every time the request comes in from a client, various alternatives were developed.

History
In 1993, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) team wrote the specification for calling command line executables on the www-talk mailing list. The other Web server developers adopted it, and it has been a standard for Web servers ever since. A work group chaired by Ken Coar started in November 1997 to get the NCSA definition of CGI more formally defined. This work resulted in RFC 3875, which specified CGI Version 1.1. Specifically mentioned in the RFC are the following contributors:

 * Rob McCool (author of the NCSA HTTPd Web server)
 * John Franks (author of the GN Web server)
 * Ari Luotonen (the developer of the CERN httpd Web server)
 * Tony Sanders (author of the Plexus Web server)
 * George Phillips (Web server maintainer at the University of British Columbia)

Historically CGI programs were often written using the C programming language. RFC 3875 "The Common Gateway Interface (CGI)" partially defines CGI using C, in saying that environment variables "are accessed by the C library routine getenv or variable environ".

The name CGI comes from the early days of the Web, where webmasters wanted to connect legacy information systems such as databases to their Web servers. The CGI program was executed by the server and provided a common "gateway" between the Web server and the legacy information system.

Purpose
Traditionally a Web server has a directory which is designated as a document collection, that is, a set of files that can be sent to Web browsers connected to the server. For example, if a web server has the fully-qualified domain name, and its document collection is stored at   in the local file system (its document root), then the web server will respond to a request for   by sending to the browser a copy of the file   (if it exists).

For pages constructed on the fly, the server software may defer requests to separate programs and relay the results to the requesting client (usually, a Web browser that displays the page to the end user).

Such programs usually require some additional information to be specified with the request, such as query strings or cookies. Conversely, upon returning, the script must provide all the information required by HTTP for a response to the request: the HTTP status of the request, the document content (if available), the document type (e.g. HTML, PDF, or plain text), et cetera.

Initially, there were no standardized methods for data exchange between a browser, the HTTP server with which it was communicating and the scripts on the server that were expected to process the data and ultimately return a result to the browser. As a result, mutual incompatibilities existed between different HTTP server variants that undermined script portability.

Recognition of this problem led to the specification of how data exchange was to be carried out, resulting in the development of CGI. Web page-generating programs invoked by server software that adheres to the CGI specification are known as CGI scripts, even though they may actually have been written in a non-scripting language, such as C.

The CGI specification was quickly adopted and continues to be supported by all well-known HTTP server packages, such as Apache, Microsoft IIS, and (with an extension) node.js-based servers.

An early use of CGI scripts was to process forms. In the beginning of HTML, HTML forms typically had an "action" attribute and a button designated as the "submit" button. When the submit button is pushed the URI specified in the "action" attribute would be sent to the server with the data from the form sent as a query string. If the "action" specifies a CGI script then the CGI script would be executed, the script in turn generating an HTML page.

Deployment
A Web server that supports CGI can be configured to interpret a URL that it serves as a reference to a CGI script. A common convention is to have a  directory at the base of the directory tree and treat all executable files within this directory (and no other, for security) as CGI scripts. When a Web browser requests a URL that points to a file within the CGI directory (e.g., ), then, instead of simply sending that file  to the Web browser, the HTTP server runs the specified script and passes the output of the script to the Web browser. That is, anything that the script sends to standard output is passed to the Web client instead of being shown in the terminal window that started the web server. Another popular convention is to use filename extensions; for instance, if CGI scripts are consistently given the extension, the Web server can be configured to interpret all such files as CGI scripts. While convenient, and required by many prepackaged scripts, it opens the server to attack if a remote user can upload executable code with the proper extension.

The CGI specification defines how additional information passed with the request is passed to the script. The Web server creates a subset of the environment variables passed to it and adds details pertinent to the HTTP environment. For instance, if a slash and additional directory name(s) are appended to the URL immediately after the name of the script (in this example, ), then that path is stored in the   environment variable before the script is called. If parameters are sent to the script via an HTTP GET request (a question mark appended to the URL, followed by param=value pairs; in the example, ), then those parameters are stored in the   environment variable before the script is called. Request HTTP message body, such as form parameters sent via an HTTP POST request, are passed to the script's standard input. The script can then read these environment variables or data from standard input and adapt to the Web browser's request.

Uses
CGI is often used to process input information from the user and produce the appropriate output. An example of a CGI program is one implementing a wiki. If the user agent requests the name of an entry, the Web server executes the CGI program. The CGI program retrieves the source of that entry's page (if one exists), transforms it into HTML, and prints the result. The Web server receives the output from the CGI program and transmits it to the user agent. Then if the user agent clicks the "Edit page" button, the CGI program populates an HTML  or other editing control with the page's contents. Finally if the user agent clicks the "Publish page" button, the CGI program transforms the updated HTML into the source of that entry's page and saves it.

Security
CGI programs run, by default, in the security context of the Web server. When first introduced a number of example scripts were provided with the reference distributions of the NCSA, Apache and CERN Web servers to show how shell scripts or C programs could be coded to make use of the new CGI. One such example script was a CGI program called PHF that implemented a simple phone book.

In common with a number of other scripts at the time, this script made use of a function:. The function was supposed to sanitize its argument, which came from user input and then pass the input to the Unix shell, to be run in the security context of the Web server. The script did not correctly sanitize all input and allowed new lines to be passed to the shell, which effectively allowed multiple commands to be run. The results of these commands were then displayed on the Web server. If the security context of the Web server allowed it, malicious commands could be executed by attackers.

This was the first widespread example of a new type of Web based attack called code injection, where unsanitized data from Web users could lead to execution of code on a Web server. Because the example code was installed by default, attacks were widespread and led to a number of security advisories in early 1996.

Alternatives
For each incoming HTTP request, a Web server creates a new CGI process for handling it and destroys the CGI process after the HTTP request has been handled. Creating and destroying a process can be expensive: consume CPU time and memory resources than the actual work of generating the output of the process, especially when the CGI program still needs to be interpreted by a virtual machine. For a high number of HTTP requests, the resulting workload can quickly overwhelm the Web server.

The computational overhead involved in CGI process creation and destruction can be reduced by the following techniques:

 * CGI programs precompiled to machine code, e.g. precompiled from C or C++ programs, rather than CGI programs executed by an interpreter, e.g. Perl, PHP or Python programs.
 * Web server extensions such as Apache modules (e.g.,   and  ), NSAPI plugins, and ISAPI plugins which allow long-running application processes handling more than one request and hosted within the Web server.
 * FastCGI, SCGI, and AJP which allow long-running application processes handling more than one request to be hosted externally; i.e., separately from the Web server. Each application process listens on a socket; the Web server handles an HTTP request and sends it via another protocol (FastCGI, SCGI or AJP) to the socket only for dynamic content, while static content is usually handled directly by the Web server. This approach needs fewer application processes so consumes less memory than the Web server extension approach. And unlike converting an application program to a Web server extension, FastCGI, SCGI, and AJP application programs remain independent of the Web server.
 * Jakarta EE runs Jakarta Servlet applications in a Web container to serve dynamic content and optionally static content which replaces the overhead of creating and destroying processes with the much lower overhead of creating and destroying threads. It also exposes the programmer to the library that comes with Java SE on which the version of Jakarta EE in use is based.
 * Standalone HTTP Server
 * Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI) is a modern approach written in the Python programming language. It is defined by PEP 3333 and implemented via various methods like  (Apache module), Gunicorn web server (in between of Nginx & Scripts/Frameworks like Django), UWSGI, etc.

The optimal configuration for any Web application depends on application-specific details, amount of traffic, and complexity of the transaction; these trade-offs need to be analyzed to determine the best implementation for a given task and time budget. Web frameworks offer an alternative to using CGI scripts to interact with user agents.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Common Gateway Interface


text:
Choctaw

The Choctaw (Chahta ) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana.

Etymology
The Choctaw autonym is Chahta. Choctaw is an anglization of Chahta, whose meaning is unknown. The anthropologist John R. Swanton suggested that the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader. Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that their name is derived from the Choctaw phrase Hacha hatak (river people).

History
The Choctaw were first noted by Europeans in French written records of 1675. Their mother mound is Nanih Waiya, a great earthwork platform mound located in central-east Mississippi. Early Spanish explorers of the mid-16th century in the Southeast encountered ancestral Mississippian culture villages and chiefs.

The Choctaw coalesced as a people in the 17th century and developed at least three distinct political and geographical divisions: eastern, western, and southern. These different groups sometimes created distinct, independent alliances with nearby European powers. These included the French, based on the Gulf Coast and in Louisiana; the English of the Southeast, and the Spanish of Florida and Louisiana during the colonial era.

Most Choctaw allied with the Americans during the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Red Stick War, most notably at the Battle of New Orleans. European Americans considered the Choctaw to be one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" of the Southeast. The Choctaw and the United States agreed to a total of nine treaties. By the last three, the US gained vast land cessions in the Southeast. As part of Indian Removal, despite not having waged war against the United States, the majority of Choctaw were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1833. The Choctaw government in Indian Territory had three districts, each with its own chief, who together with the town chiefs sat on their National Council.

Those Choctaw who chose to stay in the state of Mississippi were considered state and U.S. citizens; they were one of the first major non-European ethnic groups to be granted citizenship. Article 14 in the 1830 treaty with the Choctaw stated Choctaws may wish to become citizens of the United States under the 14th Article of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on all of the combined lands which were consolidated under Article I from all previous treaties between the United States and the Choctaw.

During the American Civil War, the Choctaw in both Indian Territory and Mississippi mostly sided with the Confederate States of America. Under the late 19th-century Dawes Act and Curtis Acts, the US federal government broke up tribal land holdings and dissolved tribal governments in Indian Territory in order to extinguish Indian land claims before admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907. From that period, for several decades the US Bureau of Indian Affairs appointed chiefs of the Choctaw and other tribes in the former Indian Territory.

During World War I, Choctaw soldiers served in the US military as some of the first Native American codetalkers, using the Choctaw language. Since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Choctaw people in three areas have reconstituted their governments and gained federal recognition. The largest are the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma.

Since the 20th century, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians were federally recognized in 1945, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in 1971, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in 1995.

Culture

The Choctaw people are believed to have coalesced in the 17th century, perhaps from peoples from Alabama and the Plaquemine culture. Their culture continued to evolve in the Southeast. The Choctaw practiced head flattening as a ritual adornment for its people, but the practice eventually fell out of favor. Some of their communities had extensive trade and interaction with Europeans, including people from Spain, France, and England greatly shaped it as well. After the United States was formed and its settlers began to move into the Southeast, the Choctaw were among the Five Civilized Tribes, who adopted some of their ways. They transitioned to yeoman farming methods, and accepted European Americans and African Americans (as slaves) into their society. In mid-summer the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians celebrate their traditional culture during the Choctaw Indian Fair with ball games, dancing, cooking and entertainment.

Clans
Within the Choctaws were two distinct moieties: Imoklashas (elders) and Inhulalatas (youth). Each moiety had several clans or Iksas; it is estimated there were about 12 Iksas altogether. The people had a matrilineal kinship system, with children born into the clan or iksa of the mother and taking their social status from it. In this system, their maternal uncles had important roles. Identity was established first by moiety and iksa; so a Choctaw first identified as Imoklasha or Inhulata, and second as Choctaw. Children belonged to the Iksa of their mother. The following were some major districts:

 * Okla Hannalli (people of six towns)
 * Okla Tannap (people from the other side)
 * Okla Fayala (people who are widely dispersed)

By the early 1930s, the anthropologist John Swanton wrote of the Choctaw: "[T]here are only the faintest traces of groups with truly totemic designations, the animal and plant names which occur seeming not to have had a totemic connotation." Swanton wrote, "Adam Hodgson ... told ... that there were tribes or families among the Indians, somewhat similar to the Scottish clans; such as, the Panther family, the Bird family, Raccoon Family, the Wolf family." The following are possible totemic clan designations:

 * Wind
 * Bear
 * Deer
 * Wolf
 * Panther
 * Holly Leaf
 * Bird
 * Raccoon
 * Crawfish

Building structures
Both, the Chickasaw and the Choctaw Indians traditionally made three kinds of buildings, per family, consisting of 1) a summer house (made into an oblong square), 2) a corn house (also made into an oblong square), and 3) a winter house, which latter was made circular, and was also known as the 'hot house'.

Games

Choctaw stickball, the oldest field sport in North America, was also known as the "little brother of war" because of its roughness and substitution for war. When disputes arose between Choctaw communities, stickball provided a civil way to settle issues. The stickball games would involve as few as twenty or as many as 300 players. The goal posts could be from a few hundred feet apart to a few miles. Goal posts were sometimes located within each opposing team's village. A Jesuit priest referenced stickball in 1729, and George Catlin painted the subject. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians continue to practice the sport.

Chunkey was a game using a disk-shaped stone that was about 1–2 inches in length. Players would throw the disk down a 200 ft corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. As the disk rolled down the corridor, players would throw wooden shafts at it. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.

Other games included using corn, cane, and moccasins. The corn game used five to seven kernels of corn. One side was blackened and the other side white. Players won points based on each color. One point was awarded for the black side and 5–7 points for the white side. There were usually only two players.

Language

The Choctaw language is a member of the Muskogean family and was well known among the frontiersmen, such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, of the early 19th century. The language is closely related to Chickasaw, and some linguists consider the two as dialects of a single language. The Choctaw language is the essence of tribal culture, tradition, and identity. Many Choctaw adults learned to speak the language before speaking English. The language is a part of daily life on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation. The following table is an example of Choctaw text and its translation:

Religion
The Choctaw believed in a good spirit and an evil spirit. They may have been sun, or Hvshtahli, worshippers. The historian John Swanton wrote, "[T]he Choctaws anciently regarded the sun as a deity ... the sun was ascribed the power of life and death. He was represented as looking down upon the earth, and as long as he kept his flaming eye fixed on any one, the person was safe ... fire, as the most striking representation of the sun, was considered as possessing intelligence, and as acting in concert with the sun ... [having] constant intercourse with the sun ..."

The word nanpisa (the one who sees) expressed the reverence the Choctaw had for the sun.

"Anthropologist theorize that the Mississippian ancestors of the Choctaw placed the sun at the center of their cosmological system. Mid-eighteenth-century Choctaws did view the sun as a being endowed with life. Choctaw diplomats, for example, spoke only on sunny days. If the day of a conference were cloudy or rainy, Choctaws delayed the meeting until the sun returned, usually on the pretext that they needed more time to discuss particulars. They believed the sun made sure that all talks were honest. The sun as a symbol of great power and reverence is a major component of southeastern Indian cultures."

Choctaw prophets were known to have addressed the sun. John Swanton wrote, "an old Choctaw informed Wright that before the arrival of the missionaries, they had no conception of prayer. He added, "I have indeed heard it asserted by some, that anciently their hopaii, or prophets, on some occasions were accustomed to address the sun ..."

Traditional clothing
The colorful dresses worn by today's Choctaw are made by hand. They are based on designs of their ancestors, who adapted 19th-century European-American styles to their needs. Today many Choctaw wear such traditional clothing mainly for special events. Choctaw elders, especially the women, dress in their traditional garb every day. Choctaw dresses are trimmed by full diamond, half diamond or circle, and crosses that represent stickball sticks.

Communal economy
Early Choctaw communities worked communally and shared their harvest. They had trouble understanding why English settlers allowed their poor to suffer from hunger. In Ireland, the generosity of the Choctaw nation during their Great Famine in the mid-nineteenth century is remembered to this day and recently marked by a sculpture, 'Kindred Spirits', in a park at Midleton, Cork.

Treaties
Land was the most valuable asset, which the Native Americans held in collective stewardship. The United States systematically obtained Choctaw land for conventional European-American settlement through treaties, legislation, and threats of warfare. Although the Choctaw made treaties with Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Confederate States of America; the nation signed only nine treaties with the United States. Some treaties which the US made with other nations, such as the Treaty of San Lorenzo, indirectly affected the Choctaw.

Reservations
Reservations can be found in Louisiana (Jena Band of Choctaw Indians), Mississippi (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians), and Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). The Oklahoma reservation is defined by treaty. Other population centers can be found throughout the United States.

Influential leaders

 * Tuscaloosa (died October 1540) retaliated against Hernando de Soto at the Battle of Mabilia. The battle was the first major conflict in North America between Native Americans and Europeans.
 * Franchimastabe (died 19th century) was a transitional benefactor and a contemporary of Taboca. To some Americans he was the "leading chief of the Choctaws." He led a war party with British forces against American rebels. Franchasmatabe attended the treaty talks of 1801 near Mobile, Alabama.
 * Taboca (died 19th century) was a traditional "prophet-chief" who led a delegation starting in October 1785 to Hopewell, South Carolina.
 * Apuckshunubbee (c. 1740–1824) was chief of the Okla Falaya (Tall People) district in old Choctaw nation. He died in Kentucky on his way to Washington D.C. to conduct negotiations.
 * Pushmataha (Apushmataha) (1760s–December 24, 1824) was a chief in old Choctaw nation. He negotiated treaties with the United States and fought on the American's side in the War of 1812. He died in Washington D.C. and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C.
 * Mosholatubbee (1770–1836) was a chief in the Choctaw nation before the removal and after. He went to Washington City to negotiate for the tribe in 1824 and was the only major leader to return. In the summer of 1830, he ran for a seat in the Congress of the United States to represent the state of Mississippi.
 * Greenwood LeFlore (June 3, 1800 – August 31, 1865) was a District Chief of the Choctaws in Mississippi. He was an influential state representative and senator in Mississippi.
 * George W. Harkins (1810–1890) was a district Choctaw chief in Indian Territory (1850–1857) prior to the Civil War and author of the "Farewell Letter to the American People".
 * Peter Pitchlynn (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881) was a highly influential leader during the removal era and long after. He represented the Choctaws in Washington, D.C., for some years and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery. Charles Dickens described him "as stately and complete a gentleman of nature's making as ever I beheld."
 * Wesley Johnson (c. 1849 – 1925) was elected chief on May 10, 1913, in Meridian, Mississippi. He would lead the Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana Choctaw Council's delegation to Washington, D. C. in February 1914 where he met President Woodrow Wilson and many members of congress. There he expressed the dire situation of the Mississippi Choctaws. Wesley Johnson represented the Alabama Delegation from Southwest Alabama in Mobile and Washington Counties. Wesley Johnson was also known as Wesley Wakatubee.
 * Phillip Martin (March 13, 1926 – February 4, 2010) was the Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from 1979 to 2007 and worked in tribal government for over fifty years. He encouraged outside investment and reduced unemployment to nearly 0% on the reservation.

Population history
The highest of early estimates - possibly representing the population peak - is that of Le Page du Pratz who estimated the Choctaw at 25,000 warriors (and therefore around 125,000 people) in year 1718. Other estimates from that time period were usually lower, but it is possible that they represented only a part of the tribe. Similar figures were given by St. Denis who estimated the Choctaw at 18,000 warriors (or 90,000 people) in 1714 and by W. Bull who estimated them at 16,000 warriors (or 80,000 people) in 1738. According to B. R. Carroll the Choctaw were reckoned by the French to be the most numerous nation of Indians in America and consisted of many thousand men. John R. Swanton enumerated a total of 102 Choctaw villages and towns in his book. Robert Rogers estimated the Choctaw at 10,000 warriors in 1775 (indicating a total population of 50,000). According to Gilbert Imlay they mustered 6,000 warriors around the year 1800 (implying a total population of 30,000). Jedidiah Morse estimated the Choctaw at 25,000 people in about year 1820. A census taken in 1830, shortly before the removal, reported a total population of 19,554. A report by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated 25 November 1841 indicates that by then 15,177 Choctaws had already moved to Oklahoma (Indian Territory). Few thousand more emigratted to the west in subsequent years. The Indian Office in 1856 reported the number of the Choctaws as 22,707. Emmanuel Domenech estimated the Choctaw at up to 25,000 people in about 1860. Enumeration published in 1886 counted 18,000 Choctaws in Oklahoma as of year 1884. The census of 1910 counted 15,917 Choctaws. Around years 1916–1919 there were in Oklahoma 17,488 Choctaws by blood, 1,651 by intermarriage and 6,029 freedmen, and in addition to that there were also at that time 3,099 Mississippi Choctaws and around 200 Choctaws living elsewhere.

In the 20th and 21st centuries Choctaw population has rebounded, in 2020 they numbered 254,154 (including 90,973 in Oklahoma).

Choctaw governments

 * Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (official site)
 * Jena Band of Choctaw Indians (official site)
 * Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (official site)

History and culture

 * Choctaw Indian Fair
 * "Choctaws" by Dr. D.L. Birchfield
 * Choctaw, Oklahoma Historical Society
 * J. L. Hargett Collection of Choctaw Nation Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
 * J. L. Hargett Collection of Choctaw Nation Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

title: Choctaw


text:
Calypso

Calypso, Calipso, Kalypso, Kalipso, may refer to:

Fictional entities

 * Calypso (comics), a Marvel Comics character
 * Calypso, a character in mythology novels by Rick Riordan
 * Calypso, or Tia Dalma, a Pirates of the Caribbean movie character
 * Calypso (dog), a dog from the animated TV show Bluey
 * Calypso, a character from the Twisted Metal video game series
 * Planet Calypso, a location in Entropia Universe
 * UNS Calypso, a starship in Alien Legacy

Literature

 * "Calypso", an episode in James Joyce's novel Ulysses
 * Calypso (book), a 2018 essay collection by David Sedaris

Music

 * Calypso music, a genre of Trinidadian folk music
 * Calypso (album), by Harry Belafonte
 * "Calypso" (John Denver song), 1975
 * "Calypso" (Luis Fonsi and Stefflon Don song), 2018
 * "Calypso" (Spiderbait song), 1997
 * "Calypso", a song by France Gall from the 1984 album Débranche!
 * "Calypso", a song by Jean-Michel Jarre from Waiting for Cousteau
 * "Calypso", a song by Suzanne Vega from the 1987 album Solitude Standing
 * "Calypso", a song by Bryson Tiller from the 2024 album Bryson Tiller
 * "Calipso" (song), by Charlie Charles and Dardust, 2019

Television

 * Calypso (TV series), a Venezuelan telenovela
 * "Calypso", an episode of Star Trek: Short Treks
 * "Calypso", an episode of Bluey
 * Calipso TV, Venezuela TV channel

People

 * Calypso (painter), 3rd century BC Greek painter
 * Calypso Rose (born 1940), Trinidadan musician
 * Kalypso Nicolaïdis (born 1962), a Franco-Grecian academic
 * Kalipso Chalkidou (born 1976), a Greek physician
 * Juno Calypso (born 1989), UK photographer
 * Charlotte Di Calypso (born 1990), French fashion model
 * Calypso (mythology), a nymph who imprisoned Odysseus for seven years
 * Calypso (nymphs), various other nymphs

Places

 * Calypso Cliffs, Bowman Inlet, Antarctica
 * Calypso Deep, the deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea
 * Calypso, North Carolina, a town in the United States
 * Calypso Park, Limoges, Ontario, Canada; a Canadian theme waterpark
 * Calypso (moon), a moon of Saturn

Science and technology

 * Calypso (electronic ticketing system)
 * Calypso (email client), later called Courier
 * Kalypso (software), an open source modelling program
 * HP Calypso, a PDA from Hewlett-Packard
 * Calypso (plant), an orchid genus containing a single species Calypso bulbosa
 * Calypso bean, a bean cultivar of the species Phaseolus vulgaris

Transportation

 * Boeing Starliner Calypso, a space capsule
 * Ultracraft Calypso, a Belgian light aircraft design
 * Calypso (ship), the name of several ships
 * M/S Kalypso, a cruiseferry
 * Greek ship Kalypso (M64), a Greek minehunter
 * Italian torpedo boat Calipso

Other uses

 * CALIPSO, a satellite
 * Calypso (camera), an underwater camera
 * Calypso (typeface)
 * Calypso Technology, later Adenza
 * Kalypso Media, a video game developer

title: Calypso


text:
Chemical affinity

In chemical physics and physical chemistry, chemical affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species are capable of forming chemical compounds. Chemical affinity can also refer to the tendency of an atom or compound to combine by chemical reaction with atoms or compounds of unlike composition.

Early theories
The idea of affinity is extremely old. Many attempts have been made at identifying its origins. The majority of such attempts, however, except in a general manner, end in futility since "affinities" lie at the basis of all magic, thereby pre-dating science. Physical chemistry, however, was one of the first branches of science to study and formulate a "theory of affinity". The name affinitas was first used in the sense of chemical relation by German philosopher Albertus Magnus near the year 1250. Later, those as Robert Boyle, John Mayow, Johann Glauber, Isaac Newton, and Georg Stahl put forward ideas on elective affinity in attempts to explain how heat is evolved during combustion reactions.

The term affinity has been used figuratively since c. 1600 in discussions of structural relationships in chemistry, philology, etc., and reference to "natural attraction" is from 1616. "Chemical affinity", historically, has referred to the "force" that causes chemical reactions. as well as, more generally, and earlier, the ″tendency to combine″ of any pair of substances. The broad definition, used generally throughout history, is that chemical affinity is that whereby substances enter into or resist decomposition. The modern term chemical affinity is a somewhat modified variation of its eighteenth-century precursor "elective affinity" or elective attractions, a term that was used by the 18th century chemistry lecturer William Cullen. Whether Cullen coined the phrase is not clear, but his usage seems to predate most others, although it rapidly became widespread across Europe, and was used in particular by the Swedish chemist Torbern Olof Bergman throughout his book De attractionibus electivis (1775). Affinity theories were used in one way or another by most chemists from around the middle of the 18th century into the 19th century to explain and organise the different combinations into which substances could enter and from which they could be retrieved. Antoine Lavoisier, in his famed 1789 Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elements of Chemistry), refers to Bergman's work and discusses the concept of elective affinities or attractions.

According to chemistry historian Henry Leicester, the influential 1923 textbook Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Reactions by Gilbert N. Lewis and Merle Randall led to the replacement of the term "affinity" by the term "free energy" in much of the English-speaking world.

According to Prigogine, the term was introduced and developed by Théophile de Donder.

Goethe used the concept in his novel Elective Affinities (1809).

Visual representations

The affinity concept was very closely linked to the visual representation of substances on a table. The first-ever affinity table, which was based on displacement reactions, was published in 1718 by the French chemist Étienne François Geoffroy. Geoffroy's name is best known in connection with these tables of "affinities" (tables des rapports), which were first presented to the French Academy of Sciences in 1718 and 1720.

During the 18th century many versions of the table were proposed with leading chemists like Torbern Bergman in Sweden and Joseph Black in Scotland adapting it to accommodate new chemical discoveries. All the tables were essentially lists, prepared by collating observations on the actions of substances one upon another, showing the varying degrees of affinity exhibited by analogous bodies for different reagents.

Crucially, the table was the central graphic tool used to teach chemistry to students and its visual arrangement was often combined with other kinds diagrams. Joseph Black, for example, used the table in combination with chiastic and circlet diagrams to visualise the core principles of chemical affinity. Affinity tables were used throughout Europe until the early 19th century when they were displaced by affinity concepts introduced by Claude Berthollet.

Modern conceptions
In chemical physics and physical chemistry, chemical affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species are capable of forming chemical compounds. Chemical affinity can also refer to the tendency of an atom or compound to combine by chemical reaction with atoms or compounds of unlike composition.

In modern terms, we relate affinity to the phenomenon whereby certain atoms or molecules have the tendency to aggregate or bond. For example, in the 1919 book Chemistry of Human Life physician George W. Carey states that, "Health depends on a proper amount of iron phosphate Fe3(PO4)2 in the blood, for the molecules of this salt have chemical affinity for oxygen and carry it to all parts of the organism." In this antiquated context, chemical affinity is sometimes found synonymous with the term "magnetic attraction". Many writings, up until about 1925, also refer to a "law of chemical affinity".

Ilya Prigogine summarized the concept of affinity, saying, "All chemical reactions drive the system to a state of equilibrium in which the affinities of the reactions vanish."

Thermodynamics
The present IUPAC definition is that affinity A is the negative partial derivative of Gibbs free energy G with respect to extent of reaction ξ at constant pressure and temperature. That is,
 * $$A = -\left(\frac{\partial G}{\partial \xi}\right)_{P,T}.$$

It follows that affinity is positive for spontaneous reactions.

In 1923, the Belgian mathematician and physicist Théophile de Donder derived a relation between affinity and the Gibbs free energy of a chemical reaction. Through a series of derivations, de Donder showed that if we consider a mixture of chemical species with the possibility of chemical reaction, it can be proven that the following relation holds:

 * $$ A = -\Delta_rG. \,$$

With the writings of Théophile de Donder as precedent, Ilya Prigogine and Defay in Chemical Thermodynamics (1954) defined chemical affinity as the rate of change of the uncompensated heat of reaction Q' as the reaction progress variable or reaction extent ξ grows infinitesimally:

 * $$A = \frac{{\mathrm d}Q'}{{\mathrm d}\xi}. \, $$

This definition is useful for quantifying the factors responsible both for the state of equilibrium systems (where A = 0), and for changes of state of non-equilibrium systems (where A ≠ 0).

title: Chemical affinity


text:
Comet Hale–Bopp

Comet Hale–Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) is a comet that was one of the most widely observed of the 20th century and one of the brightest seen for many decades.

Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale–Bopp separately on July 23, 1995, before it became visible to the naked eye. It is difficult to predict the maximum brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty, but Hale–Bopp exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997, reaching about magnitude −1.8. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, due to its massive nucleus size. This is twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the great comet of 1997.

Discovery
The comet was discovered independently on July 23, 1995, by two observers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, both in the United States.

Hale had spent many hundreds of hours searching for comets without success, and was tracking known comets from his driveway in New Mexico when he chanced upon Hale–Bopp just after midnight. The comet had an apparent magnitude of 10.5 and lay near the globular cluster M70 in the constellation of Sagittarius. Hale first established that there was no other deep-sky object near M70, and then consulted a directory of known comets, finding that none were known to be in this area of the sky. Once he had established that the object was moving relative to the background stars, he emailed the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, the clearing house for astronomical discoveries.

Bopp did not own a telescope. He was out with friends near Stanfield, Arizona, observing star clusters and galaxies when he chanced across the comet while at the eyepiece of his friend's telescope. He realized he might have spotted something new when, like Hale, he checked his star maps to determine if any other deep-sky objects were known to be near M70, and found that there were none. He alerted the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams through a Western Union telegram. Brian G. Marsden, who had run the bureau since 1968, laughed, "Nobody sends telegrams anymore. I mean, by the time that telegram got here, Alan Hale had already e-mailed us three times with updated coordinates."

The following morning, it was confirmed that this was a new comet, and it was given the designation C/1995 O1. The discovery was announced in International Astronomical Union circular 6187.

Early observation
Hale–Bopp's orbital position was calculated as 7.2 astronomical units (au) from the Sun, placing it between Jupiter and Saturn and by far the greatest distance from Earth at which a comet had been discovered by amateurs. Most comets at this distance are extremely faint, and show no discernible activity, but Hale–Bopp already had an observable coma. A precovery image taken at the UK Schmidt Telescope in 1993 was found to show the then-unnoticed comet some 13 au from the Sun, a distance at which most comets are essentially unobservable. (Halley's Comet was more than 100 times fainter at the same distance from the Sun.) Analysis indicated later that its comet nucleus was 60±20 kilometres in diameter, approximately six times the size of Halley's Comet.

Its great distance and surprising activity indicated that comet Hale–Bopp might become very bright when it reached perihelion in 1997. However, comet scientists were wary – comets can be extremely unpredictable, and many have large outbursts at great distance only to diminish in brightness later. Comet Kohoutek in 1973 had been touted as a "comet of the century" and turned out to be unspectacular.

Perihelion
Hale–Bopp became visible to the naked eye in May 1996, and although its rate of brightening slowed considerably during the latter half of that year, scientists were still cautiously optimistic that it would become very bright. It was too closely aligned with the Sun to be observable during December 1996, but when it reappeared in January 1997 it was already bright enough to be seen by anyone who looked for it, even from large cities with light-polluted skies.

The Internet was a growing phenomenon at the time, and numerous websites that tracked the comet's progress and provided daily images from around the world became extremely popular. The Internet played a large role in encouraging the unprecedented public interest in comet Hale–Bopp.

As the comet approached the Sun, it continued to brighten, shining at 2nd magnitude in February, and showing a growing pair of tails, the blue gas tail pointing straight away from the Sun and the yellowish dust tail curving away along its orbit. On March 9, a solar eclipse in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia allowed observers there to see the comet in the daytime. Hale–Bopp had its closest approach to Earth on March 22, 1997, at a distance of 1.315 au.

As it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997, the comet developed into a spectacular sight. It shone brighter than any star in the sky except Sirius, and its dust tail stretched 40–45 degrees across the sky. The comet was visible well before the sky got fully dark each night, and while many great comets are very close to the Sun as they pass perihelion, comet Hale–Bopp was visible all night to Northern Hemisphere observers.

After perihelion
After its perihelion passage, the comet moved into the southern celestial hemisphere. The comet was much less impressive to southern hemisphere observers than it had been in the northern hemisphere, but southerners were able to see the comet gradually fade from view during the second half of 1997. The last naked-eye observations were reported in December 1997, which meant that the comet had remained visible without aid for 569 days, or about 18 and a half months. The previous record had been set by the Great Comet of 1811, which was visible to the naked eye for about 9 months.

The comet continued to fade as it receded, but was still tracked by astronomers. In October 2007, 10 years after the perihelion and at a distance of 25.7 au from the Sun, the comet was still active as indicated by the detection of the CO-driven coma. Herschel Space Observatory images taken in 2010 suggest comet Hale–Bopp is covered in a fresh frost layer. Hale–Bopp was again detected in December 2010 when it was 30.7 au away from the Sun, and in 2012, at 33.2 au from the Sun. The James Webb Space Telescope observed Hale–Bopp in 2022, when it was 46.2 au from the Sun.

Orbital changes

The comet likely made its previous perihelion approximately 4,200 years ago, roughly the year 2215 BC. The estimated closest approach to Earth was 1.4 au, and it may have been observed in ancient Egypt during the 6th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Pepi II (Reign: 2247 – c. 2216 BC). Pepi's pyramid at Saqqara contains a text referring to an "nhh-star" as a companion of the pharaoh in the heavens, where "nhh" is the hieroglyph for long hair.

Hale–Bopp may have had a near collision with Jupiter in 2215 BC, which probably caused a dramatic change in its orbit, and 2215 BC may have been its first passage through the inner Solar System from the Oort cloud. The comet's current orbit is almost perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, so further close approaches to planets will be rare. However, in April 1996 the comet passed within 0.77 au of Jupiter, close enough for its orbit to be measurably affected by the planet's gravity. The comet's orbit was shortened considerably to a period of roughly 2,399 years, and it will next return to the inner Solar System around the year 4385. Its greatest distance from the Sun (aphelion) will be about 354 au, reduced from about 525 au.

The estimated probability of Hale-Bopp's striking Earth in future passages through the inner Solar System is remote, about 2.5×10−9 per orbit. However, given that the comet nucleus is around 60 km in diameter, the consequences of such an impact would be apocalyptic. Weissman conservatively estimates the diameter at 35 km; an estimated density of 0.6 g/cm3 then gives a cometary mass of 1.3×1019 g. At a probable impact velocity of 52.5 km/s, impact energy can be calculated as 1.9×1032 ergs, or 4.4×109 megatons, about 44 times the estimated energy of the K-T impact event.

Over many orbits, the cumulative effect of gravitational perturbations on comets with high orbital inclinations and small perihelion distances is generally to reduce the perihelion distance to very small values. Hale–Bopp has about a 15% chance of eventually becoming a sungrazing comet through this process. If such is the case, it could undergo huge mass loss, or break up into smaller pieces like the Kreutz sungrazers. It would also be extremely bright, due to a combination of closeness to the Sun and nuclei size, potentially exceeding Halley’s Comet in 837 AD.

Scientific results
Due to the massive size of its nucleus, Comet Hale–Bopp was observed intensively by astronomers during its perihelion passage, and several important advances in cometary science resulted from these observations. The dust production rate of the comet was very high (up to 2.0 kg/s), which may have made the inner coma optically thick. Based on the properties of the dust grains—high temperature, high albedo and strong 10 μm silicate emission feature—the astronomers concluded the dust grains are smaller than observed in any other comet.

Hale–Bopp showed the highest ever linear polarization detected for any comet. Such polarization is the result of solar radiation getting scattered by the dust particles in the coma of the comet and depends on the nature of the grains. It further confirms that the dust grains in the coma of comet Hale–Bopp were smaller than inferred in any other comet.

Sodium tail
One of the most remarkable discoveries was that the comet had a third type of tail. In addition to the well-known gas and dust tails, Hale–Bopp also exhibited a faint sodium tail, only visible with powerful instruments with dedicated filters. Sodium emission had been previously observed in other comets, but had not been shown to come from a tail. Hale–Bopp's sodium tail consisted of neutral atoms (not ions), and extended to some 50 million kilometres in length.

The source of the sodium appeared to be the inner coma, although not necessarily the nucleus. There are several possible mechanisms for generating a source of sodium atoms, including collisions between dust grains surrounding the nucleus, and "sputtering" of sodium from dust grains by ultraviolet light. It is not yet established which mechanism is primarily responsible for creating Hale–Bopp's sodium tail, and the narrow and diffuse components of the tail may have different origins.

While the comet's dust tail roughly followed the path of the comet's orbit and the gas tail pointed almost directly away from the Sun, the sodium tail appeared to lie between the two. This implies that the sodium atoms are driven away from the comet's head by radiation pressure.

Deuterium abundance
The abundance of deuterium in comet Hale–Bopp in the form of heavy water was found to be about twice that of Earth's oceans. If Hale–Bopp's deuterium abundance is typical of all comets, this implies that although cometary impacts are thought to be the source of a significant amount of the water on Earth, they cannot be the only source.

Deuterium was also detected in many other hydrogen compounds in the comet. The ratio of deuterium to normal hydrogen was found to vary from compound to compound, which astronomers believe suggests that cometary ices were formed in interstellar clouds, rather than in the solar nebula. Theoretical modelling of ice formation in interstellar clouds suggests that comet Hale–Bopp formed at temperatures of around 25–45 kelvins.

Organics
Spectroscopic observations of Hale–Bopp revealed the presence of many organic chemicals, several of which had never been detected in comets before. These complex molecules may exist within the cometary nucleus, or might be synthesised by reactions in the comet.

Detection of argon
Hale–Bopp was the first comet where the noble gas argon was detected. Noble gases are chemically inert and vary from low to high volatility. Since different noble elements have different sublimation temperatures, and don't interact with other elements, they can be used for probing the temperature histories of the cometary ices. Krypton has a sublimation temperature of 16–20 K and was found to be depleted more than 25 times relative to the solar abundance, while argon with its higher sublimation temperature was enriched relative to the solar abundance. Together these observations indicate that the interior of Hale–Bopp has always been colder than 35–40 K, but has at some point been warmer than 20 K. Unless the solar nebula was much colder and richer in argon than generally believed, this suggests that the comet formed beyond Neptune in the Kuiper belt region and then migrated outward to the Oort cloud.

Rotation
Comet Hale–Bopp's activity and outgassing were not spread uniformly over its nucleus, but instead came from several specific jets. Observations of the material streaming away from these jets allowed astronomers to measure the rotation period of the comet, which was found to be about 11 hours 46 minutes.

Binary nucleus question
In 1997 a paper was published that hypothesised the existence of a binary nucleus to fully explain the observed pattern of comet Hale–Bopp's dust emission observed in October 1995. The paper was based on theoretical analysis, and did not claim an observational detection of the proposed satellite nucleus, but estimated that it would have a diameter of about 30 km, with the main nucleus being about 70 km across, and would orbit in about three days at a distance of about 180 km. This analysis was confirmed by observations in 1996 using Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 of the Hubble Space Telescope which had taken images of the comet that revealed the satellite.

Although observations using adaptive optics in late 1997 and early 1998 showed a double peak in the brightness of the nucleus, controversy still exists over whether such observations can only be explained by a binary nucleus. The discovery of the satellite was not confirmed by other observations. Also, while comets have been observed to break up before, no case had been found of a stable binary nucleus until the subsequent discovery of P/2006 VW139.

UFO claims
In November 1996, amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek of Houston, Texas took a CCD image of the comet which showed a fuzzy, slightly elongated object nearby. His computer sky-viewing program did not identify the star, so Shramek called the Art Bell radio program Coast to Coast AM to announce that he had discovered a "Saturn-like object" following Hale–Bopp. UFO enthusiasts, such as remote viewing proponent and Emory University political science professor Courtney Brown, soon concluded that there was an alien spacecraft following the comet.

Several astronomers, including Alan Hale, stated that the object was simply the 8.5-magnitude star SAO141894. They noted that the star did not appear on Shramek's computer program because the user preferences were set incorrectly. Art Bell claimed to have obtained an image of the object from an anonymous astrophysicist who was about to confirm its discovery. However, astronomers Olivier Hainaut and David Tholen of the University of Hawaii stated that the alleged photo was an altered copy of one of their own comet images.

Thirty-nine members of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a mass suicide, in March 1997 with the intention of teleporting to a spaceship which they believed was flying behind the comet.

Nancy Lieder, who claims to receive messages from aliens through an implant in her brain, stated that Hale–Bopp was a fiction designed to distract the population from the coming arrival of "Nibiru" or "Planet X", a giant planet whose close passage would disrupt the Earth's rotation, causing global cataclysm. Her original date for the apocalypse was May 2003, which passed without incident, but various conspiracy websites continued to predict the coming of Nibiru, most of whom tied it to the 2012 phenomenon. Lieder and others' claims of the planet Nibiru have been repeatedly debunked by scientists.

Legacy
Its lengthy period of visibility and extensive coverage in the media meant that Hale–Bopp was probably the most-observed comet in history, making a far greater impact on the general public than the return of Halley's Comet in 1986, and certainly seen by a greater number of people than witnessed any of Halley's previous appearances. For instance, 69% of Americans had seen Hale–Bopp by April 9, 1997.

Hale–Bopp was a record-breaking comet—the farthest comet from the Sun discovered by amateurs, with the largest well-measured cometary nucleus known after 95P/Chiron, and it was visible to the naked eye for twice as long as the previous record-holder. It was also brighter than magnitude 0 for eight weeks, longer than any other recorded comet.

Carolyn Shoemaker and her husband Gene, both famous for co-discovering comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, were involved in a car crash after photographing the comet. Gene died in the crash and his ashes were sent to the Moon aboard NASA's Lunar Prospector mission along with an image of Hale–Bopp, "the last comet that the Shoemakers observed together".

Composer Dmitry Kayukin created the music album “Comet 97” based on his memories of observing Comet Hale-Bopp.

title: Comet Hale–Bopp


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Talk:Comet Hale–Bopp

hyphen versus long-dash
Without any RM revisit, maybe there should be a brief blurb in the article that the IAU refers to the comet as Hale-Bopp ... ? That might put some of the concerns to bed without renaming the article/changing MOS. 50.111.24.158 (talk) 14:45, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

The next Great Comets
This would make a logical next section! Grassynoel (talk) 09:53, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

 * No, it would be way off topic for this article as it would have nothing to do with Hale-Bopp. -- Kheider (talk) 16:21, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Comet Hale–Bopp


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Conspiracy

A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivation, while keeping their agreement secret from the public or from other people affected by it. In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of people united in the goal of subverting established political power structures. This can take the form of usurping or altering them, or even continually illegally profiteering from certain activities in a way that weakens the establishment with help from various political authorities. Depending on the circumstances, a conspiracy may also be a crime or a civil wrong. The term generally connotes, or implies, wrongdoing or illegality on the part of the conspirators, as it is commonly believed that people would not need to conspire to engage in activities that were lawful and ethical, or to which no one would object.

There are some coordinated activities that people engage in with secrecy that are not generally thought of as conspiracies. For example, intelligence agencies such as the American CIA and the British MI6 necessarily make plans in secret to spy on suspected enemies of their respective countries and the general populace of its home countries, but this kind of activity is generally not considered to be a conspiracy so long as their goal is to fulfill their official functions, and not something like improperly enriching themselves. Similarly, the coaches of competing sports teams routinely meet behind closed doors to plan game strategies and specific plays designed to defeat their opponents, but this activity is not considered a conspiracy because this is considered a legitimate part of the sport. Furthermore, a conspiracy must be engaged in knowingly. The continuation of social traditions that work to the advantage of certain groups and to the disadvantage of certain other groups, though possibly unethical, is not a conspiracy if participants in the practice are not carrying it forward for the purpose of perpetuating this advantage.

On the other hand, if the intent of carrying out a conspiracy exists, then there is a conspiracy even if the details are never agreed to aloud by the participants. CIA covert operations, for instance, are by their very nature hard to prove definitively, but research into the agency's work, as well as revelations by former CIA employees, has suggested several cases where the agency tried to influence events. During the Cold War, the United States tried to covertly change other nations' governments 66 times, succeeding in 26 cases.

A "conspiracy theory" is a belief that a conspiracy has actually been decisive in producing a political event of which the theorists strongly disapprove. Conspiracy theories tend to be internally consistent and correlate with each other; they are generally designed to resist falsification either by evidence against them or a lack of evidence for them. Political scientist Michael Barkun has described conspiracy theories as relying on the view that the universe is governed by design, and embody three principles: nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected. Another common feature is that conspiracy theories evolve to incorporate whatever evidence exists against them, so that they become, as Barkun writes, a closed system that is unfalsifiable, and therefore "a matter of faith rather than proof."

Etymology
Conspiracy comes from the Latin word conspiratio. While conspiratio can mean "plot" or "conspiracy", it can also be translated as "unity" and "agreement", in the context of a group an example of this "Kirri and Adele commenced the conspiracy at the secret thursday gin meeting". Conspiratio comes from conspiro which, while still meaning "conspiracy" in the modern sense, also means "I sing in unison", as con- means "with" or "together", and spiro means "I breathe", literally meaning "I breathe together with others".

Types of conspiracies

 * Conspiracy (civil), an agreement between people to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights or to gain an unfair advantage.
 * Conspiracy (criminal), an agreement between people to break the law in the future, in some cases having committed an act to further that agreement.
 * Conspiracy (political), an agreement between people with the goal of gaining political power or meeting a political objective.
 * Hub-and-spoke conspiracy, a conspiracy in which one or more principal conspirators (the "hub") enter into several similar agreements with others (the "spokes") who know concerted action is contemplated, usually where the success of the concerted action depends on the participation of the other spokes.

title: Conspiracy


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Cholistan Desert

The Cholistan Desert (Punjabi: ), also locally known as Rohi, is a desert in the southern part of Punjab, Pakistan that forms part of the Greater Thar Desert, which extends to Sindh province and the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is one of two large deserts in Punjab, the other being the Thal Desert. The name is derived from the Turkic word chol, meaning "sands," and istan, a Persian suffix meaning "land of."

Cholistan was a center for caravan trade, leading to the construction of numerous forts in the medieval period to protect trade routes - of which the Derawar Fort is the best-preserved example.

Geography
Cholistan covers an area of 25800 km2 in the Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, and Rahim Yar Khan districts of southern Punjab. The nearest major city is Bahawalpur city, 30 km from the edge of the desert. The desert stretches about 480 kilometres in length, with a width varying between 32 and 192 kilometres. It is located between 27°42΄00΄΄ to 29° 45΄00΄΄ north, and 69°57' 30'′ to 72° 52' 30'′ east. 81% of the desert is sandy, while 19% is characterized by alluvial flats and small sandy dunes. The entire region is subject to desertification due to poor vegetation cover resulting in wind erosion.

Climate
Cholistan's climate is characterized as an arid and semi-arid Tropical desert, with very low annual humidity. The mean temperature in Cholistan is 28.33 C, with the hottest month being July with a mean temperature of 38.5 C. Summer temperatures can surpass 46 C, and sometimes rise over 50 C during periods of drought. Winter temperatures occasionally dip to 0 C. Average rainfall in Cholistan is up to 180mm, with July and August being the wettest months, although droughts are common. Water is collected seasonally in a system of natural pools called Toba, or manmade pools called Kund. Subsoil water is found at a depth of 30–40 meters, but is typically brackish, and unsuitable for most plant growth.

2022 Cholistan water crisis
In May 2022, in the desert areas of Cholistan in Pakistan many cattle died due to extreme heat and water shortage. Shepherds, including cattle, have started migrating from water-scarce areas. Toba Salem Sar and Toba Nawa Kahu were the worst affected areas where 50 sheep died due to lack of water while more data is being collected from the affected areas.

Geology
Cholistan was formed during the Pleistocene period. Geologically, Cholistan is divided into the Greater Cholistan and Lesser Cholistan, which are roughly divided by the dry bed of the ancient Hakra River. Greater Cholistan is a mostly sandy area in the south and west part of the desert up to the border with India, and covers an area of 13600 km2. Sand dunes in this area reach over 100 meters in height. Soil in the region is also highly saline. Lesser Cholistan is an arid and slightly less sandy region approximately 12370 km2 in area which extends north and east from the old Hakra river bed, historically up to the banks of the Sutlej River.

Soil quality is generally poor with little organic matter in the Greater Cholistan, and compacted alluvial clays in the Lesser Cholistan. A canal system built during the British era led to irrigation of the northern part of Lesser Cholistan.

History
Though now an arid region, Cholistan once had a large river flowing through it that was formed by the waters of the Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers. The dry bed of the Hakra River runs through the area, along which many settlements of the Indus Valley civilization/Harappan culture have been discovered, including the large urban site of Ganweriwal. The river system supported settlements in the region between 4000 BCE and 600 BCE when the river changed course. The river carried significant amounts of water, and flowed until at least where Derawar Fort is now located.

Over 400 Harappan sites had been listed in Cholistan in the 1970s, with a further 37 added in the 1990s. The high density of settlements in Cholistan suggest it may have been one of the most productive regions of the Indus Valley Civilization. In the post-Harappan period, Cholistan was part of the Cemetery H culture which grew as a surviving regional variant of the Harappan culture, which was then followed by the Painted Grey Ware culture.

The region became a center for caravan trade, leading to the construction of a dense network of forts in the medieval period - of which the Derawar Fort is the best-preserved example. Other large forts in Cholistan include Meergarh, Jaangarh, Marotgarh, Maujgarh, Dingarh, Khangarh, Khairgarh, Bijnotgarh and Islamgarh - with the suffix "garh" denoting "fort." These forts are part of the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and run roughly parallel to the Indus and Sutlej Rivers 40 miles to the south. Smaller forts in the area include Bara, Bhagla, Duheinwala, Falji, Kandera, Liara, Murid, Machki, Nawankot, and Phulra forts.

Livestock
The backbone of Cholistan economy is animal rearing. Few other livelihood opportunities aside from livestock farming are available in the region. Agricultural farming away from the irrigated regions in Lower Cholistan is difficult due to the lack of steady water supply.

Camels in particular are prized in Cholistan for their meat and milk, use as transportation, and for entertainment such as racing and camel dancing. Two types of camels are found in Cholistan: Marrecha, or Mahra, is used for transportation or racing/dancing. Berella is used for milk production, and can produce 10–15 liters of milk per day per animal. Livestock holds much importance for meeting the area's major needs for cottage industry as well as providing milk, meat and fat. Because of the nomadic way of life, the main wealth of the people are their cattle that are bred for sale, milked or shorn for their wool. Moreover, isolated as they were, they had to depend upon themselves for all their needs like food, clothing, and items of daily use. So all their crafts initially stemmed from necessity but later on they started exporting their goods to the other places as well. The estimated number of livestock in the desert areas is 1.6 million.

Cotton and wool products
Cholistan produces a very superior type of carpet wool compared to that produced in other parts of Pakistan. From this wool they knit beautiful carpets, rugs, and other woolen items. This includes blankets, which is also a local necessity for the desert as it is not always dust and heat, but winter nights here are very cold too, usually below the freezing point. Khes and pattu are also manufactured with wool or cotton. Khes is a form of blanket with a field of black white and pattu has a white ground base. Cholistan is now selling the wool for it brings maximum profit.

Textiles
It may be mentioned that cotton textiles have always been a hallmark craft of the Indus Valley civilization. Various kinds of khaddar-cloth are made for local consumption, and fine khaddar bedclothes and coarse lungies are woven here. A beautiful cloth called Sufi is also woven of silk and cotton, or with cotton wrap and silk wool. Gargas are made with numerous patterns and color, having complicated embroidery, mirror, and patchwork. Ajrak is another specialty of Cholistan. It is a special and delicate printing technique on both sides of the cloth in indigo blue and red patterns covering the base cloth. Cotton turbans and shawls are also made here. Chunri is another form of dopattas, having innumerable colors and patterns like dots, squares, and circles on it.

People
As per the 1998 Census of Pakistan, a total of 128,019 people, with a 2015 estimate of 229,071, with 70% living in Lesser Cholistan. The average household size is 6.65.

Local crafts
As mentioned above, the Indus Valley has always been occupied by the wandering nomadic tribes who are fond of isolated areas, as such areas allow them to lead life free of foreign intrusion, enabling them to establish their own individual and unique cultures. Cholistan till the era of Mughal rule had also been isolated from outside influence. During the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar, it became a proper productive unit. The entire area was ruled by a host of kings who securely guarded their frontiers. The rulers were the great patrons of art, and the various crafts underwent a simultaneous and parallel development, influencing each other. Masons, stone carvers, artisans, artists, and designers started rebuilding the old cities and new sites, and with that flourished new courts, paintings, weaving, and pottery. The fields of architecture, sculpture, terra cotta, and pottery developed greatly in this phase.

Camel products
Camels are highly valued by the desert dwellers. Camels are not only useful for transportation and loading purposes, but its skin and wool are also quite valuable. Camel wool is spun and woven into beautiful woolen blankets known as falsies and into stylish and durable rugs. The camel's leather is also utilized in making caps, goblets, and expensive lampshades.

Leather work
Leather work is another important local cottage industry due to the large number of livestock here. Other than the products mentioned above, Khusa (shoes) is a specialty of this area. Cholistani khusas are very famous for the quality of workmanship, variety, and richness of designs especially when stitched and embroidered with golden or brightly-colored threads.

Jewelry
The people of Cholistan are fond of jewelry, especially gold jewelry. The chief ornaments made and worn by them are Nath (nosegay), Katmala (necklace) Kangan (bracelet), and Pazeb (anklets). Gold and silver bangles are also a product of Cholistan. The locals similarly work in enamel, producing enamel buttons, earrings, bangles, and rings.

Flora
Subsoil water in Cholistan is typically brackish, and unsuitable for most plant growth. Native trees, shrubs, and grasses are drought tolerant. There are 131 plant species in Cholistan from 89 genera and 24 families. Most common of them are below;

 * 1) Prosopis cineraria
 * 2) Haloxylon salicornicum Cholistan Desert Rangelands | Forest, Wildlife & Fishries Department
 * 3) Cenchrus ciliaris Cholistan Desert Rangelands | Forest, Wildlife & Fishries Department

A man-made forest called Dingarh was developed by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) on more than 100 ha. Dunes were fixed and stabilized by mechanical and vegetative means, and the area is now covered with trees with orchards of zizyphus, date palms, and grassland grown with collected rainwater and saline groundwater.

Fauna
The wildlife of Cholistan desert mostly consists of migratory birds, especially the Houbara bustard who migrates to this part during winter. This species of bird is most famous in the hunting season, even though they are endangered in Pakistan (vulnerable globally), according to the IUCN Red List. Their population has decreased from 4,746 in 2001 to just a few dozens in recent times. In December 2016, a Qatari prince had his hunting license rejected due to the species being endangered. Another prince, Dr. Fahad was fined with Rs. 80,000 ($760) and all of the birds he caught were set free for hunting without permit and license. A few endangered species in this desert are the Chinkara Antelope, Great Indian Bustard, and Blue Bull, etc. Their population of Chinkara has decreased from 3,000 in 2007 to just a little above 1,000 in 2010 due to non-permit hunting of the species by influential political families.

Forts in Cholistan

 * Derawar Fort
 * Islamgarh Fort
 * Mirgarh Fort
 * Jamgarh Fort
 * Mojgarh Fort
 * Marot Fort
 * Phoolra Fort
 * Khangarh Fort
 * Khairgarh Fort
 * Nawankot Fort
 * Bijnot Fort

Terracotta

The Indus civilization was one of the earliest centres of pottery, and thus the pottery of Cholistan has a long history. Local soil is very fine and suitable for making pottery. The fineness of the earth can be observed on the Kacha houses which are actually plastered with mud but look like they have been white washed. The chief Cholistani ceramic articles are their surahies, piyalas, and glasses, remarkable for their lightness and fine finishing.

In earlier times, only the art of pottery and terracotta developed, but from the seventh century onwards, a large number of temples and images were also built on account of the intensified religious passions and the accumulation of wealth in cities.

title: Cholistan Desert


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Causantín mac Cináeda

Causantín mac Cináeda (Modern Gaelic: Còiseam mac Choinnich; died 877) was a king of the Picts. He is often known as Constantine I in reference to his place in modern lists of Scottish monarchs, but contemporary sources described Causantín only as a Pictish king. A son of Cináed mac Ailpín ("Kenneth MacAlpin"), he succeeded his uncle Domnall mac Ailpín as Pictish king following the latter's death on 13 April 862. It is likely that the reign of Causantín witnessed increased activity by Vikings, based in Ireland, Northumbria and northern Britain. He died fighting one such invasion.

Languages and names

Writing a century before Causantín was born, Bede recorded five languages in Britain. Latin, the common language of the church; Old English, the language of the Angles and Saxons; Irish, spoken on the western coasts of Britain and in Ireland; Brythonic, ancestor of the Welsh language, spoken in large parts of western Britain; and Pictish, spoken in northern Britain. By the ninth century a sixth language, Old Norse, had arrived with the Vikings.

Amlaíb and Ímar
Viking activity in northern Britain appears to have reached a peak during Causantín's reign. Viking armies were led by a small group of men who may have been kinsmen. Among those noted by the Irish annals, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are Ívarr — Ímar in Irish sources — who was active from East Anglia to Ireland, Halfdán — Albdann in Irish, Healfdene in Old English — and Amlaíb or Óláfr. As well as these leaders, various others related to them appear in the surviving record.

Viking activity in Britain increased in 865 when the Great Heathen Army, probably a part of the forces which had been active in Francia, landed in East Anglia. The following year, having obtained tribute from the East Anglian King Edmund, the Great Army moved north, seizing York, chief city of the Northumbrians. The Great Army defeated an attack on York by the two rivals for the Northumbrian throne, Osberht and Ælla, who had put aside their differences in the face of a common enemy. Both would-be kings were killed in the failed assault, probably on 21 March 867. Following this, the leaders of the Great Army are said to have installed one Ecgberht as king of the Northumbrians. Their next target was Mercia where King Burgred, aided by his brother-in-law King Æthelred of Wessex, drove them off.

While the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria were under attack, other Viking armies were active in the far north. Amlaíb and Auisle (Ásl or Auðgísl), said to be his brother, brought an army to Fortriu and obtained tribute and hostages in 866. Historians disagree as to whether the army returned to Ireland in 866, 867 or even in 869. Late sources of uncertain reliability state that Auisle was killed by Amlaíb in 867 in a dispute over Amlaíb's wife, the daughter of Cináed. It is unclear whether, if accurate, this woman should be identified as a daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín, and thus Causantín's sister, or as a daughter of Cináed mac Conaing, king of Brega. While Amlaíb and Auisle were in north Britain, the Annals of Ulster record that Áed Findliath, High King of Ireland, took advantage of their absence to destroy the longphorts along the northern coasts of Ireland. Áed Findliath was married to Causantín's sister Máel Muire. She later married Áed's successor Flann Sinna. Her death is recorded in 913.

In 870, Amlaíb and Ívarr attacked Dumbarton Rock, where the River Leven meets the River Clyde, the chief place of the kingdom of Alt Clut, south-western neighbour of Pictland. The siege lasted four months before the fortress fell to the Vikings who returned to Ireland with many prisoners, "Angles, Britons and Picts", in 871. Archaeological evidence suggests that Dumbarton Rock was largely abandoned and that Govan replaced it as the chief place of the kingdom of Strathclyde, as Alt Clut was later known. King Artgal of Alt Clut did not long survive these events, being killed "at the instigation" of Causantín son of Cináed two years later. Artgal's son and successor Run was married to a sister of Causantín.

Amlaíb disappears from Irish annals after his return to Ireland in 871. According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, he was killed by Causantín either in 871 or 872 when he returned to Pictland to collect further tribute. His ally Ívarr died in 873.

Last days of the Pictish kingdom

In 875, the Chronicle and the Annals of Ulster again report a Viking army in Pictland; the Annals of Ulster say that "a great slaughter of the Picts resulted". No name is given to the battle in which the slaughter occurred, yet the Chronicle notes a battle fought between Danes and Scots near Dollar but notes a subsequent "annihilation" at Atholl. In 877, shortly after building a new church for the Culdees at St Andrews, Causantín was captured and executed (or perhaps killed in battle) after defending against Viking raiders. Although there is agreement on the time and general manner of his death, it is not clear where this happened. Some believe he was beheaded on a Fife beach, following a battle at Fife Ness, near Crail. William Forbes Skene reads the Chronicle as placing Causantín's death at Inverdovat (by Newport-on-Tay), which appears to match the Prophecy of Berchán. The account in the Chronicle of Melrose names the place as the "Black Cave" and John of Fordun calls it the "Black Den". Causantín was buried on Iona.

Aftermath
Causantín's son Domnall and his descendants represented the main line of the kings of Alba and later Scotland.

title: Causantín mac Cináeda