["[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-01 00:00]\n<User>The following are some new knowledge:\nIn Argentina, the most representative Carnival performed is the so-called Murga, although other famous Carnivals, more like Brazil's, are held in Argentine Mesopotamia and the North-East. Gualeguaych\u00fa in the east of Entre R\u00edos province is the most important Carnival city and has one of the largest parades. It adopts a musical background similar to Brazilian or Uruguayan Carnival. Corrientes is another city with a Carnival tradition. Chamame is a popular musical style. In all major cities and many towns throughout the country, Carnival is celebrated.\n\nLa Diablada Carnival takes place in Oruro in central Bolivia. It is celebrated in honor of the miners' patron saint, V\u00edrgen de Socavon (the Virgin of the Tunnels). Over 50 parade groups dance, sing and play music over a five kilometre-long course. Participants dress up as demons, devils, angels, Incas and Spanish conquistadors. Dances include caporales and tinkus. The parade runs from morning until late at night, 18 hours a day, 3 days before Ash Wednesday. It was declared the 2001 \"Masterpieces of Oral Heritage and Intangible Heritage of Humanity\" for UNESCO. Throughout the country celebrations are held involving traditional rhythms and water parties. In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on the east side of the country, tropical weather allows a Brazilian-type Carnival, with Comparsas dancing traditional songs in matching uniforms.\n<Assistant>Got it. I will remember them.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-02 00:00]\n<User>I have some fresh insights to share:\nSamba Schools are large, social entities with thousands of members and a theme for their song and parade each year. In Rio Carnival, samba schoolsparade in the Sambadrome (\"samb\u00f3dromo\" in Portuguese). Some of the most famous include GRES Esta\u00e7\u00e3o Primeira de Mangueira, GRES Portela, GRES Imperatriz Leopoldinense, GRES Beija-Flor de Nil\u00f3polis, GRES Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, and recently, Unidos da Tijuca and GRES Uni\u00e3o da Ilha do Governador. Local tourists pay $500\u2013950, depending on the costume, to buy a Samba costume and dance in the parade. Blocos are small informal groups with a definite theme in their samba, usually satirizing the political situation. About 30 schools in Rio gather hundreds of thousands of participants. More than 440 blocos operate in Rio. Bandas are samba musical bands, also called \"street carnival bands\", usually formed within a single neighborhood or musical back-ground. The Carnival industry chain amassed in 2012 almost US$1 billion in revenues.\n\nThe Carnival continued its evolution in small/unimportant towns out of view of the rulers. The result was the uninterrupted celebration of Carnival festivals in Barranquilla (see Barranquilla's Carnival) now recognized as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Barranquilla Carnival includes several parades on Friday and Saturday nights beginning on 11 January and ending with a six-day non-stop festival, beginning the Wednesday prior to Ash Wednesday and ending Tuesday midnight. Other celebrations occur in villages along the lower Magdalena River in northern Colombia, and in Pasto, Nari\u00f1o (see Blacks and Whites' Carnival) in the south of the country. In the early 20th century, attempts to introduce Carnival in Bogot\u00e1 were rejected by the government. The Bogot\u00e1 Carnival was renewed in the 21st century.\n\nThe most famed Carnival festivities are in Guaranda (Bolivar province) and Ambato (Tungurahua province). In Ambato, the festivities are called Fiesta de las Flores y las Frutas (Festival of the Flowers and Fruits). Other cities have revived Carnival traditions with colorful parades, such as in Azogues (Ca\u00f1ar Province). In Azogues and the Southern Andes in general, Taita Carnival is always an indigenous Ca\u00f1ari. Recently a celebration has gained prominence in the northern part of the Sierra in the Chota Valley in Imbabura which is a zone of a strong afro-Ecuadorian population and so the Carnival is celebrated with bomba del chota music.\n\nA uniquely Creole tradition is the touloulous. These women wear decorative gowns, gloves, masks and headdresses that cover them completely, making them unrecognisable, even to the colour of their skin. On Friday and Saturday nights of Carnival, touloulou balls are held in so-called universities; in reality, large dance halls that open only at Carnival time. Touloulous get in free, and are even given condoms in the interest of the sexual health of the community. Men attend the balls, but they pay admittance and are not disguised. The touloulous pick their dance partners, who may not refuse. The setup is designed to make it easy for a woman to create a temporary liaison with a man in total anonymity. Undisguised women are not welcomed. By tradition, if such a woman gets up to dance, the orchestra stops playing. Alcohol is served at bars \u2013 the disguised women whisper to the men \"touloulou thirsty\", at which a round of drinks is expected, to be drunk through a straw protect their anonymity.\n\nPeruvian Carnival incorporates elements of violence and reflects the urban violence in Peruvian society following the internal conflict in Peru. Traditionally, Peruvian Andean festivities were held on this period every year because it is the rainy season. It was already violent during the 19th century, but the government limited the practice. During the early 20th century it consisted partying and parading, while in the second half of the 20th century it acquired violent characteristics that continued. It was banned, first from the streets in 1958 and altogether in 1959 by the Prado government. It consisted basically of water battles in a traditional way,[clarification needed] while in later years it included playing with dirty water, mud, oil and colorants -and also including fighting and sometimes looting private property and sexual assaults on women. It has become an excuse for criminal gangs to rob people while pretending to celebrate. As of 2010, it had become so violent that the government imposed penalties of up to eight years in prison for violence during the games (the games themselves are not forbidden, but using violence during the games or coercing others to participate is).\n\nThe Carnival in Uruguay covers more than 40 days, generally beginning towards the end of January and running through mid March. Celebrations in Montevideo are the largest. The festival is performed in the European parade style with elements from Bantu and Angolan Benguela cultures imported with slaves in colonial times. The main attractions of Uruguayan Carnival include two colorful parades called Desfile de Carnaval (Carnival Parade) and Desfile de Llamadas (Calls Parade, a candombe-summoning parade).\n\nDuring the celebration, theaters called tablados are built in many places throughout the cities, especially in Montevideo. Traditionally formed by men and now starting to be open to women, the different Carnival groups (Murgas, Lubolos or Parodistas) perform a kind of popular opera at the tablados, singing and dancing songs that generally relate to the social and political situation. The 'Calls' groups, basically formed by drummers playing the tamboril, perform candombe rhythmic figures. Revelers wear their festival clothing. Each group has its own theme. Women wearing elegant, bright dresses are called vedettes and provide a sensual touch to parades.\n<Assistant>Appreciated. I'll retain these important details.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-03 00:00]\n<User>There are some important details I learned:\nPesticides are substances meant for attracting, seducing, and then destroying any pest. They are a class of biocide. The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from damaging influences such as weeds, fungi, or insects. This use of pesticides is so common that the term pesticide is often treated as synonymous with plant protection product, although it is in fact a broader term, as pesticides are also used for non-agricultural purposes. The term pesticide includes all of the following: herbicide, insecticide, insect growth regulator, nematicide, termiticide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, predacide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, antimicrobial, fungicide, disinfectant (antimicrobial), and sanitizer.\n\nIn general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, antimicrobial, or disinfectant) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Although pesticides have benefits, some also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species. According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 9 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are organochlorine pesticides.\n\nPesticides can be classified by target organism (e.g., herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, and pediculicides - see table), chemical structure (e.g., organic, inorganic, synthetic, or biological (biopesticide), although the distinction can sometimes blur), and physical state (e.g. gaseous (fumigant)). Biopesticides include microbial pesticides and biochemical pesticides. Plant-derived pesticides, or \"botanicals\", have been developing quickly. These include the pyrethroids, rotenoids, nicotinoids, and a fourth group that includes strychnine and scilliroside.:15\n\nMany pesticides can be grouped into chemical families. Prominent insecticide families include organochlorines, organophosphates, and carbamates. Organochlorine hydrocarbons (e.g., DDT) could be separated into dichlorodiphenylethanes, cyclodiene compounds, and other related compounds. They operate by disrupting the sodium/potassium balance of the nerve fiber, forcing the nerve to transmit continuously. Their toxicities vary greatly, but they have been phased out because of their persistence and potential to bioaccumulate.:239\u2013240 Organophosphate and carbamates largely replaced organochlorines. Both operate through inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, allowing acetylcholine to transfer nerve impulses indefinitely and causing a variety of symptoms such as weakness or paralysis. Organophosphates are quite toxic to vertebrates, and have in some cases been replaced by less toxic carbamates.:136\u2013137 Thiocarbamate and dithiocarbamates are subclasses of carbamates. Prominent families of herbicides include phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides (e.g. 2,4-D), triazines (e.g., atrazine), ureas (e.g., diuron), and Chloroacetanilides (e.g., alachlor). Phenoxy compounds tend to selectively kill broad-leaf weeds rather than grasses. The phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides function similar to plant growth hormones, and grow cells without normal cell division, crushing the plant's nutrient transport system.:300 Triazines interfere with photosynthesis.:335 Many commonly used pesticides are not included in these families, including glyphosate.\n\nPesticides can be classified based upon their biological mechanism function or application method. Most pesticides work by poisoning pests. A systemic pesticide moves inside a plant following absorption by the plant. With insecticides and most fungicides, this movement is usually upward (through the xylem) and outward. Increased efficiency may be a result. Systemic insecticides, which poison pollen and nectar in the flowers[citation needed], may kill bees and other needed pollinators[citation needed].\n\nPesticides are used to control organisms that are considered to be harmful. For example, they are used to kill mosquitoes that can transmit potentially deadly diseases like West Nile virus, yellow fever, and malaria. They can also kill bees, wasps or ants that can cause allergic reactions. Insecticides can protect animals from illnesses that can be caused by parasites such as fleas. Pesticides can prevent sickness in humans that could be caused by moldy food or diseased produce. Herbicides can be used to clear roadside weeds, trees and brush. They can also kill invasive weeds that may cause environmental damage. Herbicides are commonly applied in ponds and lakes to control algae and plants such as water grasses that can interfere with activities like swimming and fishing and cause the water to look or smell unpleasant. Uncontrolled pests such as termites and mold can damage structures such as houses. Pesticides are used in grocery stores and food storage facilities to manage rodents and insects that infest food such as grain. Each use of a pesticide carries some associated risk. Proper pesticide use decreases these associated risks to a level deemed acceptable by pesticide regulatory agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Canada.\n\nDDT, sprayed on the walls of houses, is an organochlorine that has been used to fight malaria since the 1950s. Recent policy statements by the World Health Organization have given stronger support to this approach. However, DDT and other organochlorine pesticides have been banned in most countries worldwide because of their persistence in the environment and human toxicity. DDT use is not always effective, as resistance to DDT was identified in Africa as early as 1955, and by 1972 nineteen species of mosquito worldwide were resistant to DDT.\n\nIn 2006 and 2007, the world used approximately 2.4 megatonnes (5.3\u00d7109 lb) of pesticides, with herbicides constituting the biggest part of the world pesticide use at 40%, followed by insecticides (17%) and fungicides (10%). In 2006 and 2007 the U.S. used approximately 0.5 megatonnes (1.1\u00d7109 lb) of pesticides, accounting for 22% of the world total, including 857 million pounds (389 kt) of conventional pesticides, which are used in the agricultural sector (80% of conventional pesticide use) as well as the industrial, commercial, governmental and home & garden sectors.Pesticides are also found in majority of U.S. households with 78 million out of the 105.5 million households indicating that they use some form of pesticide. As of 2007, there were more than 1,055 active ingredients registered as pesticides, which yield over 20,000 pesticide products that are marketed in the United States.\n<Assistant>Sure I will remember them.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-04 00:00]\n<User>Let me update you with some new information:\nEvery dollar ($1) that is spent on pesticides for crops yields four dollars ($4) in crops saved. This means based that, on the amount of money spent per year on pesticides, $10 billion, there is an additional $40 billion savings in crop that would be lost due to damage by insects and weeds. In general, farmers benefit from having an increase in crop yield and from being able to grow a variety of crops throughout the year. Consumers of agricultural products also benefit from being able to afford the vast quantities of produce available year-round. The general public also benefits from the use of pesticides for the control of insect-borne diseases and illnesses, such as malaria. The use of pesticides creates a large job market within the agrichemical sector.\n\nPesticides may cause acute and delayed health effects in people who are exposed. Pesticide exposure can cause a variety of adverse health effects, ranging from simple irritation of the skin and eyes to more severe effects such as affecting the nervous system, mimicking hormones causing reproductive problems, and also causing cancer. A 2007 systematic review found that \"most studies on non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia showed positive associations with pesticide exposure\" and thus concluded that cosmetic use of pesticides should be decreased. There is substantial evidence of associations between organophosphate insecticide exposures and neurobehavioral alterations.  Limited evidence also exists for other negative outcomes from pesticide exposure including neurological, birth defects, fetal death,\n\nThe World Health Organization and the UN Environment Programme estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. Owing to inadequate regulation and safety precautions, 99% of pesticide related deaths occur in developing countries that account for only 25% of pesticide usage. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly. There are several careers aside from agriculture that may also put individuals at risk of health effects from pesticide exposure including pet groomers, groundskeepers, and fumigators.\n\nPesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and soil. Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas, potentially contaminating them. Pesticides are one of the causes of water pollution, and some pesticides are persistent organic pollutants and contribute to soil contamination.\n\nSince chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides dissolve in fats and are not excreted, organisms tend to retain them almost indefinitely. Biological magnification is the process whereby these chlorinated hydrocarbons (pesticides) are more concentrated at each level of the food chain. Among marine animals, pesticide concentrations are higher in carnivorous fishes, and even more so in the fish-eating birds and mammals at the top of the ecological pyramid. Global distillation is the process whereby pesticides are transported from warmer to colder regions of the Earth, in particular the Poles and mountain tops. Pesticides that evaporate into the atmosphere at relatively high temperature can be carried considerable distances (thousands of kilometers) by the wind to an area of lower temperature, where they condense and are carried back to the ground in rain or snow.\n\nIn order to reduce negative impacts, it is desirable that pesticides be degradable or at least quickly deactivated in the environment. Such loss of activity or toxicity of pesticides is due to both innate chemical properties of the compounds and environmental processes or conditions. For example, the presence of halogens within a chemical structure often slows down degradation in an aerobic environment. Adsorption to soil may retard pesticide movement, but also may reduce bioavailability to microbial degraders.\n\nAlternatives to pesticides are available and include methods of cultivation, use of biological pest controls (such as pheromones and microbial pesticides), genetic engineering, and methods of interfering with insect breeding. Application of composted yard waste has also been used as a way of controlling pests. These methods are becoming increasingly popular and often are safer than traditional chemical pesticides. In addition, EPA is registering reduced-risk conventional pesticides in increasing numbers.\n\nThe term \"push-pull\" was established in 1987 as an approach for integrated pest management (IPM). This strategy uses a mixture of behavior-modifying stimuli to manipulate the distribution and abundance of insects. \"Push\" means the insects are repelled or deterred away from whatever resource that is being protected. \"Pull\" means that certain stimuli (semiochemical stimuli, pheromones, food additives, visual stimuli, genetically altered plants, etc.) are used to attract pests to trap crops where they will be killed. There are numerous different components involved in order to implement a Push-Pull Strategy in IPM.\n\nSome evidence shows that alternatives to pesticides can be equally effective as the use of chemicals. For example, Sweden has halved its use of pesticides with hardly any reduction in crops.[unreliable source?] In Indonesia, farmers have reduced pesticide use on rice fields by 65% and experienced a 15% crop increase.[unreliable source?] A study of Maize fields in northern Florida found that the application of composted yard waste with high carbon to nitrogen ratio to agricultural fields was highly effective at reducing the population of plant-parasitic nematodes and increasing crop yield, with yield increases ranging from 10% to 212%; the observed effects were long-term, often not appearing until the third season of the study.\n<Assistant>Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep track of this.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-05 00:00]\n<User>Let me tell you about some new developments:\nPesticides are often referred to according to the type of pest they control. Pesticides can also be considered as either biodegradable pesticides, which will be broken down by microbes and other living beings into harmless compounds, or persistent pesticides, which may take months or years before they are broken down: it was the persistence of DDT, for example, which led to its accumulation in the food chain and its killing of birds of prey at the top of the food chain. Another way to think about pesticides is to consider those that are chemical pesticides or are derived from a common source or production method.\n\nThe following sulfonylureas have been commercialized for weed control: amidosulfuron, azimsulfuron, bensulfuron-methyl, chlorimuron-ethyl, ethoxysulfuron, flazasulfuron, flupyrsulfuron-methyl-sodium, halosulfuron-methyl, imazosulfuron, nicosulfuron, oxasulfuron, primisulfuron-methyl, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, rimsulfuron, sulfometuron-methyl Sulfosulfuron, terbacil, bispyribac-sodium, cyclosulfamuron, and pyrithiobac-sodium. Nicosulfuron, triflusulfuron methyl, and chlorsulfuron are broad-spectrum herbicides that kill plants by inhibiting the enzyme acetolactate synthase. In the 1960s, more than 1 kg/ha (0.89 lb/acre) crop protection chemical was typically applied, while sulfonylureates allow as little as 1% as much material to achieve the same effect.\n\nThough pesticide regulations differ from country to country, pesticides, and products on which they were used are traded across international borders. To deal with inconsistencies in regulations among countries, delegates to a conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization adopted an International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides in 1985 to create voluntary standards of pesticide regulation for different countries. The Code was updated in 1998 and 2002. The FAO claims that the code has raised awareness about pesticide hazards and decreased the number of countries without restrictions on pesticide use.\n\nThree other efforts to improve regulation of international pesticide trade are the United Nations London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade and the United Nations Codex Alimentarius Commission.[citation needed] The former seeks to implement procedures for ensuring that prior informed consent exists between countries buying and selling pesticides, while the latter seeks to create uniform standards for maximum levels of pesticide residues among participating countries. Both initiatives operate on a voluntary basis.\n\nPesticides safety education and pesticide applicator regulation are designed to protect the public from pesticide misuse, but do not eliminate all misuse. Reducing the use of pesticides and choosing less toxic pesticides may reduce risks placed on society and the environment from pesticide use. Integrated pest management, the use of multiple approaches to control pests, is becoming widespread and has been used with success in countries such as Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, the U.S., Australia, and Mexico. IPM attempts to recognize the more widespread impacts of an action on an ecosystem, so that natural balances are not upset. New pesticides are being developed, including biological and botanical derivatives and alternatives that are thought to reduce health and environmental risks. In addition, applicators are being encouraged to consider alternative controls and adopt methods that reduce the use of chemical pesticides.\n<Assistant>Excellent. I've documented all of this information.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-06 00:00]\n<User>Here are some news I learnt earlier:\nIn the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). Studies must be conducted to establish the conditions in which the material is safe to use and the effectiveness against the intended pest(s). The EPA regulates pesticides to ensure that these products do not pose adverse effects to humans or the environment. Pesticides produced before November 1984 continue to be reassessed in order to meet the current scientific and regulatory standards. All registered pesticides are reviewed every 15 years to ensure they meet the proper standards. During the registration process, a label is created. The label contains directions for proper use of the material in addition to safety restrictions. Based on acute toxicity, pesticides are assigned to a Toxicity Class.\n\nSome pesticides are considered too hazardous for sale to the general public and are designated restricted use pesticides. Only certified applicators, who have passed an exam, may purchase or supervise the application of restricted use pesticides. Records of sales and use are required to be maintained and may be audited by government agencies charged with the enforcement of pesticide regulations. These records must be made available to employees and state or territorial environmental regulatory agencies.\n\nSince before 2000 BC, humans have utilized pesticides to protect their crops. The first known pesticide was elemental sulfur dusting used in ancient Sumer about 4,500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old, mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest control. By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead were being applied to crops to kill pests. In the 17th century, nicotine sulfate was extracted from tobacco leaves for use as an insecticide. The 19th century saw the introduction of two more natural pesticides, pyrethrum, which is derived from chrysanthemums, and rotenone, which is derived from the roots of tropical vegetables. Until the 1950s, arsenic-based pesticides were dominant. Paul M\u00fcller discovered that DDT was a very effective insecticide. Organochlorines such as DDT were dominant, but they were replaced in the U.S. by organophosphates and carbamates by 1975. Since then, pyrethrin compounds have become the dominant insecticide. Herbicides became common in the 1960s, led by \"triazine and other nitrogen-based compounds, carboxylic acids such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and glyphosate\".\n<Assistant>Thanks for the information. I've saved it.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-07 00:00]\n<User>Here are some facts I recently discovered:\nThe first legislation providing federal authority for regulating pesticides was enacted in 1910; however, decades later during the 1940s manufacturers began to produce large amounts of synthetic pesticides and their use became widespread. Some sources consider the 1940s and 1950s to have been the start of the \"pesticide era.\" Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970 and amendments to the pesticide law in 1972, pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950 and 2.3 million tonnes (2.5 million short tons) of industrial pesticides are now[when?] used each year. Seventy-five percent of all pesticides in the world are used in developed countries, but use in developing countries is increasing. A study of USA pesticide use trends through 1997 was published in 2003 by the National Science Foundation's Center for Integrated Pest Management.\n\nSomerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. The city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.\n\nThe people of Somerset are mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's entry for AD 845, in the inflected form \"Sumurs\u00e6tum\", and the county is recorded in the entry for 1015 using the same name. The archaic name Somersetshire was mentioned in the Chronicle's entry for 878. Although \"Somersetshire\" was in common use as an alternative name for the county, it went out of fashion in the late 19th century, and is no longer used possibly due to the adoption of \"Somerset\" as the county's official name after the establishment of the county council in 1889. As with other counties not ending in \"shire,\" the suffix was superfluous, as there was no need to differentiate between the county and a town within it.\n<Assistant>I've processed this information and will remember it.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-08 00:00]\n<User>I want to share some knowledge I just acquired:\nAfter the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples. By AD 600 they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The British held back Saxon advance into the south-west for some time longer, but by the early eighth century King Ine of Wessex had pushed the boundaries of the West Saxon kingdom far enough west to include Somerset. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, and large areas were owned by the crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence. Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet, which was England's oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. In the English Civil War Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton and the Battle of Langport. In 1685 the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north, hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, but they were defeated in the Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland, the last pitched battle fought in England. Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington; he is commemorated on a nearby hill by a large, spotlit obelisk, known as the Wellington Monument.\n\nThe Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelled the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. Farming continued to flourish, however, and the Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce was founded in 1777 to improve farming methods. Despite this, 20 years later John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 and found that agricultural methods could still be improved. Coal mining was an important industry in north Somerset during the 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1800 it was prominent in Radstock. The Somerset Coalfield reached its peak production by the 1920s, but all the pits have now been closed, the last in 1973. Most of the surface buildings have been removed, and apart from a winding wheel outside Radstock Museum, little evidence of their former existence remains. Further west, the Brendon Hills were mined for iron ore in the late 19th century; this was taken by the West Somerset Mineral Railway to Watchet Harbour for shipment to the furnaces at Ebbw Vale.\n\nMany Somerset soldiers died during the First World War, with the Somerset Light Infantry suffering nearly 5,000 casualties. War memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages; only nine, described as the Thankful Villages, had none of their residents killed. During the Second World War the county was a base for troops preparing for the D-Day landings. Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its pill boxes can still be seen along the coast, and south through Ilminster and Chard.\n\nA number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War II to protect Bristol and other towns, at night. They were designed to mimic the geometry of \"blacked out\" streets, railway lines, and Bristol Temple Meads railway station, to encourage bombers away from these targets. One, on the radio beam flight path to Bristol, was constructed on Beacon Batch. It was laid out by Shepperton Studios, based on aerial photographs of the city's railway marshalling yards. The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities like the stoking of steam locomotives. Burning bales of straw soaked in creosote were used to simulate the effects of incendiary bombs dropped by the first wave of Pathfinder night bombers; meanwhile, incendiary bombs dropped on the correct location were quickly smothered, wherever possible. Drums of oil were also ignited to simulate the effect of a blazing city or town, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers into dropping their bombs on the wrong location. The Chew Magna decoy town was hit by half-a-dozen bombs on 2 December 1940, and over a thousand incendiaries on 3 January 1941. The following night the Uphill decoy town, protecting Weston-super-Mare's airfield, was bombed; a herd of dairy cows was hit, killing some and severely injuring others.\n\nThe boundaries of Somerset are largely unaltered from medieval times. The River Avon formed much of the border with Gloucestershire, except that the hundred of Bath Forum, which straddles the Avon, formed part of Somerset. Bristol began as a town on the Gloucestershire side of the Avon, however as it grew it extended across the river into Somerset. In 1373 Edward III proclaimed \"that the town of Bristol with its suburbs and precincts shall henceforth be separate from the counties of Gloucester and Somerset... and that it should be a county by itself\".\n<Assistant>I've successfully recorded all of this data.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-09 00:00]\n<User>I want to tell you about some new discoveries:\nSomerton took over from Ilchester as the county town in the late thirteenth century, but it declined in importance and the status of county town transferred to Taunton about 1366. The county has two cities, Bath and Wells, and 30 towns (including the county town of Taunton, which has no town council but instead is the chief settlement of the county's only borough). The largest urban areas in terms of population are Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Yeovil and Bridgwater. Many settlements developed because of their strategic importance in relation to geographical features, such as river crossings or valleys in ranges of hills. Examples include Axbridge on the River Axe, Castle Cary on the River Cary, North Petherton on the River Parrett, and Ilminster, where there was a crossing point on the River Isle. Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer; while the Wellow Brook and the Fosse Way Roman road run through Radstock. Chard is the most southerly town in Somerset, and at an altitude of 121 m (397 ft) it is also the highest.\n\nTo the north-east of the Somerset Levels, the Mendip Hills are moderately high limestone hills. The central and western Mendip Hills was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972 and covers 198 km2 (76 sq mi). The main habitat on these hills is calcareous grassland, with some arable agriculture. To the south-west of the Somerset Levels are the Quantock Hills which was England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated in 1956 which is covered in heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands with plantations of conifer and covers 99 square kilometres. The Somerset Coalfield is part of a larger coalfield which stretches into Gloucestershire. To the north of the Mendip hills is the Chew Valley and to the south, on the clay substrate, are broad valleys which support dairy farming and drain into the Somerset Levels.\n\nThere is an extensive network of caves, including Wookey Hole, underground rivers, and gorges, including the Cheddar Gorge and Ebbor Gorge. The county has many rivers, including the Axe, Brue, Cary, Parrett, Sheppey, Tone and Yeo. These both feed and drain the flat levels and moors of mid and west Somerset. In the north of the county the River Chew flows into the Bristol Avon. The Parrett is tidal almost to Langport, where there is evidence of two Roman wharfs. At the same site during the reign of King Charles I, river tolls were levied on boats to pay for the maintenance of the bridge.\n\nThe Somerset Levels (or Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known) are a sparsely populated wetland area of central Somerset, between the Quantock and Mendip hills. They consist of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland (often peat based) moors. The Levels are divided into two by the Polden Hills; land to the south is drained by the River Parrett while land to the north is drained by the River Axe and the River Brue. The total area of the Levels amounts to about 647.5 square kilometres (160,000 acres) and broadly corresponds to the administrative district of Sedgemoor but also includes the south west of Mendip district. Approximately 70% of the area is grassland and 30% is arable. Stretching about 32 kilometres (20 mi) inland, this expanse of flat land barely rises above sea level. Before it was drained, much of the land was under a shallow brackish sea in winter and was marsh land in summer. Drainage began with the Romans, and was restarted at various times: by the Anglo-Saxons; in the Middle Ages by the Glastonbury Abbey, from 1400\u20131770; and during the Second World War, with the construction of the Huntspill River. Pumping and management of water levels still continues.\n\nThe main coastal towns are, from the west to the north-east, Minehead, Watchet, Burnham-on-Sea, Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead. The coastal area between Minehead and the eastern extreme of the administrative county's coastline at Brean Down is known as Bridgwater Bay, and is a National Nature Reserve. North of that, the coast forms Weston Bay and Sand Bay whose northern tip, Sand Point, marks the lower limit of the Severn Estuary. In the mid and north of the county the coastline is low as the level wetlands of the levels meet the sea. In the west, the coastline is high and dramatic where the plateau of Exmoor meets the sea, with high cliffs and waterfalls.\n<Assistant>Sure I will remember them.", "[Dialogue between User and Assistant on 2024-01-10 00:00]\n<User>I want to share some knowledge I just acquired:\nAlong with the rest of South West England, Somerset has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 \u00b0C (50.0 \u00b0F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 \u00b0C (69.8 \u00b0F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 \u00b0C (33.8 \u00b0F) or 2 \u00b0C (35.6 \u00b0F) are common. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, but convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8\u201315 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.\n\nBridgwater was developed during the Industrial Revolution as the area's leading port. The River Parrett was navigable by large ships as far as Bridgwater. Cargoes were then loaded onto smaller boats at Langport Quay, next to the Bridgwater Bridge, to be carried further up river to Langport; or they could turn off at Burrowbridge and then travel via the River Tone to Taunton. The Parrett is now only navigable as far as Dunball Wharf. Bridgwater, in the 19th and 20th centuries, was a centre for the manufacture of bricks and clay roof tiles, and later cellophane, but those industries have now stopped. With its good links to the motorway system, Bridgwater has developed as a distribution hub for companies such as Argos, Toolstation, Morrisons and Gerber Juice. AgustaWestland manufactures helicopters in Yeovil, and Normalair Garratt, builder of aircraft oxygen systems, is also based in the town. Many towns have encouraged small-scale light industries, such as Crewkerne's Ariel Motor Company, one of the UK's smallest car manufacturers.\n\nSomerset is an important supplier of defence equipment and technology. A Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Bridgwater was built at the start of the Second World War, between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington, to manufacture explosives. The site was decommissioned and closed in July 2008. Templecombe has Thales Underwater Systems, and Taunton presently has the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and Avimo, which became part of Thales Optics. It has been announced twice, in 2006 and 2007, that manufacturing is to end at Thales Optics' Taunton site, but the trade unions and Taunton Deane District Council are working to reverse or mitigate these decisions. Other high-technology companies include the optics company Gooch and Housego, at Ilminster. There are Ministry of Defence offices in Bath, and Norton Fitzwarren is the home of 40 Commando Royal Marines. The Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton, is one of Britain's two active Fleet Air Arm bases and is home to the Royal Navy's Lynx helicopters and the Royal Marines Commando Westland Sea Kings. Around 1,675 service and 2,000 civilian personnel are stationed at Yeovilton and key activities include training of aircrew and engineers and the Royal Navy's Fighter Controllers and surface-based aircraft controllers.\n<Assistant>I understand. I'll keep this in mind."]
[{"question": "Which Carnival in Argentina is the most representative of the nature of the Carnival?", "answer": "Murga"}, {"question": "What kind of tradition does the city of Corrientes have?", "answer": "Carnival"}, {"question": "What is Chamame?", "answer": "popular musical style."}, {"question": "Which Carnival takes place in Oruro in Bolivia?", "answer": "La Diablada"}, {"question": "Over how many parade groups participate in the festivities?", "answer": "50"}, {"question": "How many hours a day does the parade run?", "answer": "18"}, {"question": "What does the tropical weather on the east side of Bolivia allow?", "answer": "a Brazilian-type Carnival"}, {"question": "How many members do Samba Schools have?", "answer": "thousands"}, {"question": "How much does a Samba costume typically run an average tourist to buy?", "answer": "$500\u2013950"}, {"question": "How much money in US dollars did the Carnival industry make in 2012?", "answer": "1 billion"}, {"question": "How many days does the non-stop festival go?", "answer": "six"}, {"question": "Who rejected attempts to introduce the Carnival in Bogot\u00e1?", "answer": "the government"}, {"question": "Where has a celebration recently gained acclaim?", "answer": "Imbabura"}, {"question": "What is a tradition unique to the Creole people?", "answer": "touloulous"}, {"question": "What do men have to do to be allowed into the balls?", "answer": "pay admittance"}, {"question": "What are the touloulous' dance partners not allowed to do?", "answer": "refuse"}, {"question": "Why do the women drink through a straw?", "answer": "protect their anonymity"}, {"question": "What does the Peruvian Carnival incorporate elements of?", "answer": "violence"}, {"question": "What is an element of Peruvian's Carnival not found in any other country's celebrations?", "answer": "sexual assaults on women"}, {"question": "How many years in prison can someone expect for being violent during the fun and games?", "answer": "eight"}, {"question": "How many days does the Carnival in Uruguay last for?", "answer": "more than 40"}, {"question": "What parade style does Uruguay's festival ape?", "answer": "European"}, {"question": "What were the stylistic elements of the parade imported with in colonial times?", "answer": "slaves"}, {"question": "What are the main attractions of the Uruguayan Carnival?", "answer": "two colorful parades"}, {"question": "What is summoned by the Desfile de Llamadas parade?", "answer": "candombe"}, {"question": "What are built in many places through the cities?", "answer": "tablados"}, {"question": "What do the different Carnival groups perform together?", "answer": "opera"}, {"question": "What type of rhythmic figures are performed by the drummers playing the tamboril?", "answer": "candombe"}, {"question": "What sort of touch do the vedettes provide to the parades?", "answer": "sensual"}, {"question": "What item commonly used in hospitals, schools and offices is a pesticide?", "answer": "sanitizer"}, {"question": "What is one way to group pesticides?", "answer": "chemical structure"}, {"question": "What type of herbicide selectively kills broad leef weeds?", "answer": "Phenoxy compounds"}, {"question": "Organophospates and carbamates cause which symptoms?", "answer": "weakness or paralysis"}, {"question": "What is one way you could group pesticides?", "answer": "application method"}, {"question": "What is the main way that peticides perform their function?", "answer": "by poisoning pests"}, {"question": "In which direction do systemic pesticide generally travel through a plant?", "answer": "movement is usually upward"}, {"question": "How may species have been found to be resistant to DDT?", "answer": "nineteen"}, {"question": "What amount of conventional pesticide use does the agricultural sector account for?", "answer": "80%"}, {"question": "What do monetary savings in crops from the use of pesticide amount to?", "answer": "$40 billion"}, {"question": "What amount is spent annualoy on pesticides?", "answer": "$10 billion"}, {"question": "What is one of the most serious effects of exposure to pesticides?", "answer": "cancer"}, {"question": "How many workers in agriculture die a year from severly poisining pesticides in developing countries?", "answer": "18,000"}, {"question": "In developing countries, how many workers are exposed to mild pesticide poisining?", "answer": "as 25 million"}, {"question": "Why are 99% of pesticide related deaths in underdeveloped countries?", "answer": "inadequate regulation"}, {"question": "What pecentage of sprayed pesticides affect the wrong species?", "answer": "Over 98%"}, {"question": "What is the effect of pesticide drift?", "answer": "potentially contaminating"}, {"question": "How are levels of pesticides higher going up the food chain?", "answer": "Biological magnification"}, {"question": "How could pesticides travel over hundreds of miles?", "answer": "the wind"}, {"question": "What is one way by which pesticides lose their efficacy?", "answer": "presence of halogens"}, {"question": "What may slow pesticide movement?", "answer": "Adsorption to soil"}, {"question": "What is one thing that can be used in place of pesticides?", "answer": "methods of cultivation"}, {"question": "How can the location and amount of insects be changed?", "answer": "behavior-modifying stimuli"}, {"question": "What is one thing that can be used to pull pests?", "answer": "food additives"}, {"question": "How much was Sweden able to lower thier pesticide usage?", "answer": "halved its use"}, {"question": "What other country has reduced its pesticide usage?", "answer": "Indonesia"}, {"question": "What natural substance has been found to effectively increase crop yields", "answer": "carbon to nitrogen"}, {"question": "What is one type of pesticide?", "answer": "biodegradable"}, {"question": "How long may it take for persistent pesticides to be broken down?", "answer": "months or years"}, {"question": "What quality caused DDT to build up in various organisms?", "answer": "persistence"}, {"question": "What are sulfonyureas commonly used for?", "answer": "weed control"}, {"question": "The amount of material used as a crop protection measure decreased from 1kg/ha in what year to its current 1%?", "answer": "1960s"}, {"question": "How recently were voluntary standards of pesticide regulation updated?", "answer": "2002"}, {"question": "What country has attempted to better the controls of pesticide exchanges?", "answer": "London"}, {"question": "What is one country that has sucessfully used IPM?", "answer": "Australia"}, {"question": "Who has the ability to make the choice of using less harmful pesticides?", "answer": "applicators"}, {"question": "What are pesticides that are thought to be extremely dangerous called?", "answer": "restricted use pesticides"}, {"question": "What would qualify someone to use restricted use pesticides?", "answer": "an exam"}, {"question": "Agencies who regulate the environment exists in what regional capacities?", "answer": "state or territorial"}, {"question": "What was used as a insecticide in the 17th century?", "answer": "nicotine sulfate"}, {"question": "What decade did herbicides become common?", "answer": "1960s"}, {"question": "Who can be credited with finding out DDT is useful as an insecticide?", "answer": "Paul M\u00fcller"}, {"question": "What is the source used to exact nicotine sulfate?", "answer": "tobacco leaves"}, {"question": "Countries which are established use what amount of pesticides?", "answer": "Seventy-five percent"}, {"question": "Trends about use of pesticides have been published from which country?", "answer": "USA"}]