title: Olive content: countries. Olive trees in the groves around the Mediterranean Sea are centuries old, with some dated to 2000 years. The olive tree on the island of Brijuni (Brioni), Istria in Croatia, has a radiocarbon dating age of about 1,600 years. It still gives fruit (about per year), which is made into olive oil. An olive tree in west Athens, named "Plato's Olive Tree", is thought to be a remnant of the grove where Plato's Academy was situated, making it an estimated 2,400 years old. The tree comprised a cavernous trunk from which a few branches were still sprouting in 1975,


title: Olive content: when a traffic accident caused a bus to uproot it. Following that, the trunk was preserved and displayed in the nearby Agricultural University of Athens. In 2013, it was reported that the remaining part of the trunk was uprooted and stolen, allegedly to serve as firewood. A supposedly older tree, the "Peisistratos Tree", is located by the banks of the Cephisus River, in the municipality of Agioi Anargyroi, and is said to be a remnant of an olive grove that was planted by Athenian tyrant Peisistratos in the sixth century BC. Numerous ancient olive trees also exist near Pelion in


title: Olive content: Greece. The age of an olive tree in Crete, the Finix Olive, is claimed to be over 2,000 years old; this estimate is based on archaeological evidence around the tree. The olive tree of Vouves, also in Crete, has an age estimated between 2000 and 4000 years. An olive tree called Farga d'Arió in Ulldecona, Catalonia, Spain, has been estimated (with laser-perimetry methods) to date back to 314 CE, which would mean that it was planted when Constantine the Great was Roman emperor. Some Italian olive trees are believed to date back to Ancient Rome (8th century BC to 5th


title: Olive content: century AD), although identifying progenitor trees in ancient sources is difficult. Several other trees of about 1,000 years old are within the same garden. The 15th-century trees of Olivo della Linza, at Alliste in the Province of Lecce in Apulia on the Italian mainland, were noted by Bishop Ludovico de Pennis during his pastoral visit to the Diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli in 1452. The town of Bshaale, Lebanon claims to have the oldest olive trees in the world (4000 BC for the oldest), but no scientific study supports these claims. Other trees in the towns of Amioun appear to be at


title: Olive content: least 1,500 years old. Throughout Israel and Palestine, dozens of ancient olive trees are found with estimated ages of 1,600–2,000 years; however, these estimates could not be supported by current scientific practices. Ancient trees include two giant olive trees in Arraba and five trees in Deir Hanna, both in the Galilee region, which have been determined to be over 3,000 years old, although no available data support the credibility of the study that produced these age estimates, and as such, the 3000 years age estimate can not be considered valid. All seven trees continue to produce olives. Several trees in


title: Olive content: the Garden of Gethsemane (from the Hebrew words "gat shemanim" or olive press) in Jerusalem are claimed to date back to the purported time of Jesus. A study conducted by the National Research Council of Italy in 2012 used carbon dating on older parts of the trunks of three trees from Gethsemane and came up with the dates of 1092, 1166, and 1198 AD, while DNA tests show that the trees were originally planted from the same parent plant. According to molecular analysis, the tested trees showed the same allelic profile at all microsatellite loci analyzed which furthermore may indicate


title: Olive content: attempt to keep the lineage of an older species intact. However, Bernabei writes, “All the tree trunks are hollow inside so that the central, older wood is missing . . . In the end, only three from a total of eight olive trees could be successfully dated. The dated ancient olive trees do, however, not allow any hypothesis to be made with regard to the age of the remaining five giant olive trees.” Babcox concludes, “The roots of the eight oldest trees are possibly much older. Visiting guides to the garden often state that they are two thousand years old.”


title: Olive content: The 2,000-year-old Bidni olive trees on the island of Malta, which have been confirmed through carbon dating, have been protected since 1933, and are also listed in UNESCO's Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws. In 2011, after recognising their historical and landscape value, and in recognition of the fact that "only 20 trees remain from 40 at the beginning of the 20th century", Maltese authorities declared the ancient Bidni olive grove at Bidnija, limits of Mosta, as a Tree Protected Area, in accordance with the provisions of the Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations, 2011, as per Government Notice number 473/11.


title: Olive content: The olive tree, "Olea europaea", has been cultivated for olive oil, fine wood, olive leaf, and the olive fruit. About 90% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 10% are used as table olives. The olive is one of the "trinity" or "triad" of basic ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine, the other two being wheat for bread, pasta, and couscous, and the grape for wine. Table olives are classified by the IOC into three groups according to the degree of ripeness achieved before harvesting: Raw or fresh olives are naturally very bitter; to make them palatable, olives must


title: Olive content: be cured and fermented, thereby removing oleuropein, a bitter phenolic compound that can reach levels of 14% of dry matter in young olives. In addition to oleuropein, other phenolic compounds render freshly picked olives unpalatable and must also be removed or lowered in quantity through curing and fermentation. Generally speaking, phenolics reach their peak in young fruit and are converted as the fruit matures. Once ripening occurs, the levels of phenolics sharply decline through their conversion to other organic products which render some cultivars edible immediately. One example of an edible olive native to the island of Thasos is the


title: Olive content: "throubes" black olive, which when allowed to ripen in sun, shrivel, and fall from the tree, is edible. The curing process may take from a few days, with lye, to a few months with brine or salt packing. With the exception of California style and salt-cured olives, all methods of curing involve a major fermentation involving bacteria and yeast that is of equal importance to the final table olive product. Traditional cures, using the natural microflora on the fruit to induce fermentation, lead to two important outcomes: the leaching out and breakdown of oleuropein and other unpalatable phenolic compounds, and


title: Olive content: the generation of favourable metabolites from bacteria and yeast, such as organic acids, probiotics, glycerol, and esters, which affect the sensory properties of the final table olives. Mixed bacterial/yeast olive fermentations may have probiotic qualities. Lactic acid is the most important metabolite, as it lowers the pH, acting as a natural preservative against the growth of unwanted pathogenic species. The result is table olives which can be stored without refrigeration. Fermentations dominated by lactic acid bacteria are, therefore, the most suitable method of curing olives. Yeast-dominated fermentations produce a different suite of metabolites which provide poorer preservation, so they are


title: Olive content: corrected with an acid such as citric acid in the final processing stage to provide microbial stability. The many types of preparations for table olives depend on local tastes and traditions. The most important commercial examples are: Spanish or Sevillian type (olives with fermentation): Most commonly applied to green olive preparation, around 60% of all the world's table olives are produced with this method. Olives are soaked in lye (dilute NaOH, 2–4%) for 8–10 hours to hydrolyse the oleuropein. They are usually considered "treated" when the lye has penetrated two-thirds of the way into the fruit. They are then washed


title: Olive content: once or several times in water to remove the caustic solution and transferred to fermenting vessels full of brine at typical concentrations of 8–12% NaCl. The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds. Fermentation is carried out by the natural microbiota present on the olives that survive the lye treatment process. Many organisms are involved, usually reflecting the local conditions or "Terroir" of the olives. During a typical fermentation gram-negative enterobacteria flourish in small numbers at first, but are rapidly outgrown by lactic acid bacteria species such as "Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis"


title: Olive content: and "Pediococcus damnosus". These bacteria produce lactic acid to help lower the pH of the brine and therefore stabilize the product against unwanted pathogenic species. A diversity of yeasts then accumulate in sufficient numbers to help complete the fermentation alongside the lactic acid bacteria. Yeasts commonly mentioned include the teleomorphs "Pichia anomala, Pichia membranifaciens, Debaryomyces hansenii" and "Kluyveromyces marxianus". Once fermented, the olives are placed in fresh brine and acid corrected, to be ready for market. Sicilian or Greek type (olives with fermentation): Applied to green, semiripe and ripe olives, they are almost identical to the Spanish type fermentation process,


title: Olive content: but the lye treatment process is skipped and the olives are placed directly in fermentation vessels full of brine (8–12% NaCl). The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds. As the caustic treatment is avoided, lactic acid bacteria are only present in similar numbers to yeast and appear to be outcompeted by the abundant yeasts found on untreated olives. As very little acid is produced by the yeast fermentation, lactic, acetic, or citric acid is often added to the fermentation stage to stabilize the process. Picholine or directly-brined type (olives with fermentation): Applied to


title: Olive content: green, semiripe, or ripe olives, they are soaked in lye typically for longer periods than Spanish style (e.g. 10–72 hours) until the solution has penetrated three-quarters of the way into the fruit. They are then washed and immediately brined and acid corrected with citric acid to achieve microbial stability. Fermentation still occurs carried out by acidogenic yeast and bacteria, but is more subdued than other methods. The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds and a series of progressively stronger concentrations of salt are added until the product is fully stabilized and ready to


title: Olive content: be eaten. Water-cured type (olives with fermentation): Applied to green, semiripe, or ripe olives, these are soaked in water or weak brine and this solution is changed on a daily basis for 10–14 days. The oleuropein is naturally dissolved and leached into the water and removed during a continual soak-wash cycle. Fermentation takes place during the water treatment stage and involves a mixed yeast/bacteria ecosystem. Sometimes, the olives are lightly cracked with a hammer or a stone to trigger fermentation and speed up the fermentation process. Once debittered, the olives are brined to concentrations of 8–12% NaCl and acid corrected,


title: Olive content: and are then ready to eat. Salt-cured type (olives with minor fermentation): Applied only to ripe olives, they are usually produced in Morocco, Turkey, and other eastern Mediterranean countries. Once picked, the olives are vigorously washed and packed in alternating layers with salt. The high concentrations of salt draw the moisture out of olives, dehydrating and shriveling them until they look somewhat analogous to a raisin. Once packed in salt, fermentation is minimal and only initiated by the most halophilic yeast species such as "Debaryomyces hansenii". Once cured, they are sold in their natural state without any additives. So-called Oil-cured


title: Olive content: olives are cured in salt, and then soaked in oil. California or "artificial ripening" type (olives without fermentation): Applied to green and semiripe olives, they are placed in lye and soaked. Upon their removal, they are washed in water injected with compressed air. This process is repeated several times until both oxygen and lye have soaked through to the pit. The repeated, saturated exposure to air oxidises the skin and flesh of the fruit, turning it black in an artificial process that mimics natural ripening. Once fully oxidised or "blackened", they are brined and acid corrected and are then ready


title: Olive content: for eating. Olive wood is very hard and is prized for its durability, colour, high combustion temperature, and interesting grain patterns. Because of the commercial importance of the fruit, and the slow growth and relatively small size of the tree, olive wood and its products are relatively expensive. Common uses of the wood include: kitchen utensils, carved wooden bowls, cutting boards, fine furniture, and decorative items. The yellow or light greenish-brown wood is often finely veined with a darker tint; being very hard and close-grained, it is valued by woodworkers. In modern landscape design olive trees are frequently used as


title: Olive content: ornamental features for their distinctively gnarled trunks and silvery gray foliage. The earliest evidence for the domestication of olives comes from the Chalcolithic period archaeological site of Teleilat el Ghassul in what is today modern Jordan. Farmers in ancient times believed that olive trees would not grow well if planted more than a certain distance from the sea; Theophrastus gives 300 stadia () as the limit. Modern experience does not always confirm this, and, though showing a preference for the coast, they have long been grown further inland in some areas with suitable climates, particularly in the southwestern Mediterranean (Iberia,


title: Olive content: northwest Africa) where winters are mild. Olives are now cultivated in many regions of the world with Mediterranean climates, such as South Africa, Chile, Peru, Australia, and California and in areas with temperate climates such as New Zealand, under irrigation in the Cuyo region in Argentina which has a desert climate. They are also grown in the Córdoba Province, Argentina, which has a temperate climate with rainy summers and dry winters (Cwa). The climate in Argentina changes the external characteristics of the plant but the fruit keeps its original features. The northernmost olive grove is placed in Anglesey, an island


title: Olive content: off the north west coast of Wales, in the United Kingdom: but it is too early to say if the growing will be successful, having been planted in 2006. Olive trees show a marked preference for calcareous soils, flourishing best on limestone slopes and crags, and coastal climate conditions. They grow in any light soil, even on clay if well drained, but in rich soils, they are predisposed to disease and produce poorer oil than in poorer soil. (This was noted by Pliny the Elder.) Olives like hot weather and sunny positions without any shade, while temperatures below may injure


title: Olive content: even a mature tree. They tolerate drought well, due to their sturdy and extensive root systems. Olive trees can live for several centuries and can remain productive for as long if they are pruned correctly and regularly. Only a handful of olive varieties can be used to cross-pollinate. 'Pendolino' olive trees are partially self-fertile, but pollenizers are needed for a large fruit crop. Other compatible olive tree pollenizers include 'Leccino' and 'Maurino'. 'Pendolino' olive trees are used extensively as pollenizers in large olive tree groves. Olives are propagated by various methods. The preferred ways are cuttings and layers; the tree


title: Olive content: roots easily in favourable soil and throws up suckers from the stump when cut down. However, yields from trees grown from suckers or seeds are poor; they must be budded or grafted onto other specimens to do well. Branches of various thickness cut into lengths around planted deeply in manured ground soon vegetate. Shorter pieces are sometimes laid horizontally in shallow trenches and, when covered with a few centimetres of soil, rapidly throw up sucker-like shoots. In Greece, grafting the cultivated tree on the wild tree is a common practice. In Italy, embryonic buds, which form small swellings on the


title: Olive content: stems, are carefully excised and planted under the soil surface, where they soon form a vigorous shoot. The olive is also sometimes grown from seed. To facilitate germination, the oily pericarp is first softened by slight rotting, or soaked in hot water or in an alkaline solution. In situations where extreme cold has damaged or killed the olive tree, the rootstock can survive and produce new shoots which in turn become new trees. In this way, olive trees can regenerate themselves. In Tuscany in 1985, a very severe frost destroyed many productive, and aged, olive trees and ruined many farmers'


title: Olive content: livelihoods. However, new shoots appeared in the spring and, once the dead wood was removed, became the basis for new fruit-producing trees. In this way, an olive tree can live for centuries or even millennia. Olives grow very slowly, and over many years, the trunk can attain a considerable diameter. A. P. de Candolle recorded one exceeding in girth. The trees rarely exceed in height, and are generally confined to much more limited dimensions by frequent pruning. "Olea europaea" is very hardy: drought-, disease- and fire-resistant, it can live to a great age. Its root system is robust and capable


title: Olive content: of regenerating the tree even if the above-ground structure is destroyed. The older the olive tree, the broader and more gnarled the trunk becomes. Many olive trees in the groves around the Mediterranean are said to be hundreds of years old, while an age of 2,000 years is claimed for a number of individual trees; in some cases, this has been scientifically verified. See paragraph dealing with the topic. The crop from old trees is sometimes enormous, but they seldom bear well two years in succession, and in many cases, a large harvest occurs every sixth or seventh season. Where


title: Olive content: the olive is carefully cultivated, as in Languedoc and Provence, the trees are regularly pruned. The pruning preserves the flower-bearing shoots of the preceding year, while keeping the tree low enough to allow the easy gathering of the fruit. The spaces between the trees are regularly fertilized. Various pathologies can affect olives. The most serious pest is the olive fruit fly ("Dacus oleae" or "Bactrocera oleae") which lays its eggs in the olive most commonly just before it becomes ripe in the autumn. The region surrounding the puncture rots, becomes brown, and takes a bitter taste, making the olive unfit


title: Olive content: for eating or for oil. For controlling the pest, the practice has been to spray with insecticides (organophosphates, e.g. dimethoate). Classic organic methods have now been applied such as trapping, applying the bacterium "Bacillus thuringiensis", and spraying with kaolin. Such methods are obligatory for organic olives. A fungus, "Cycloconium oleaginum", can infect the trees for several successive seasons, causing great damage to plantations. A species of bacterium, "Pseudomonas savastanoi" pv. "oleae", induces tumour growth in the shoots. Certain lepidopterous caterpillars feed on the leaves and flowers. "Xylella fastidiosa" bacteria, which can also infect citrus fruit and vines, has attacked olive


title: Olive content: trees in the Lecce province, Salento, Southern Italy causing the olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS). The main vector is "Philaenus spumarius" (meadow spittlebug). A pest which spreads through olive trees is the black scale bug, a small black scale insect that resembles a small black spot. They attach themselves firmly to olive trees and reduce the quality of the fruit; their main predators are wasps. The curculio beetle eats the edges of leaves, leaving sawtooth damage. Rabbits eat the bark of olive trees and can do considerable damage, especially to young trees. If the bark is removed around the entire


title: Olive content: circumference of a tree, it is likely to die. Voles and mice also do damage by eating the roots of olives. At the northern edge of their cultivation zone, for instance in Southern France and north-central Italy, olive trees suffer occasionally from frost. Gales and long-continued rains during the gathering season also cause damage. Since its first domestication, "O. europaea" has been spreading back to the wild from planted groves. Its original wild populations in southern Europe have been largely swamped by feral plants. In some other parts of the world where it has been introduced, most notably South Australia,


title: Olive content: the olive has become a major woody weed that displaces native vegetation. In South Australia, its seeds are spread by the introduced red fox and by many bird species, including the European starling and the native emu, into woodlands, where they germinate and eventually form a dense canopy that prevents regeneration of native trees. As the climate of South Australia is very dry and bushfire prone, the oil-rich feral olive tree substantially increases the fire hazard of native sclerophyll woodlands. Olives are harvested in the autumn and winter. More specifically in the Northern Hemisphere, green olives are picked from the


title: Olive content: end of September to about the middle of November. Blond olives are picked from the middle of October to the end of November, and black olives are collected from the middle of November to the end of January or early February. In southern Europe, harvesting is done for several weeks in winter, but the time varies in each country, and with the season and the cultivar. Most olives today are harvested by shaking the boughs or the whole tree. Using olives found lying on the ground can result in poor quality oil, due to damage. Another method involves standing on


title: Olive content: a ladder and "milking" the olives into a sack tied around the harvester's waist. This method produces high quality oil. A third method uses a device called an oli-net that wraps around the tree trunk and opens to form an umbrella-like catcher from which workers collect the fruit. Another method uses an electric tool, the oliviera, that has large tongs that spin around quickly, removing fruit from the tree. Olives harvested by this method are used for oil. Table olive varieties are more difficult to harvest, as workers must take care not to damage the fruit; baskets that hang around


title: Olive content: the worker's neck are used. In some places in Italy, Croatia, and Greece, olives are harvested by hand because the terrain is too mountainous for machines. As a result, the fruit is not bruised, which leads to a superior finished product. The method also involves sawing off branches, which is healthy for future production. The amount of oil contained in the fruit differs greatly by cultivar; the pericarp is usually 60–70% oil. Typical yields are of oil per tree per year. Olives are one of the most extensively cultivated fruit crops in the world. In 2011, about were planted with


title: Olive content: olive trees, which is more than twice the amount of land devoted to apples, bananas, or mangoes. Only coconut trees and oil palms command more space. Cultivation area tripled from between 1960 and 1998 and reached a peak of in 2008. The 10 largest producing countries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, are all located in the Mediterranean region and produce 95% of the world's olives. One hundred grams of cured green olives provide 146 calories, are a rich source of vitamin E (25% of the Daily Value, DV), and contain a large amount of sodium (104% DV); other


title: Olive content: nutrients are insignificant. Green olives are 75% water, 15% fat, 4% carbohydrates and 1% protein (table). The polyphenol composition of olive fruits varies during fruit ripening and during processing by fermentation when olives are immersed whole in brine or crushed to produce oil. In raw fruit, total polyphenol contents, as measured by the Folin method, are 117 mg/100 g in black olives and 161 mg/100 g in green olives, compared to 55 and 21 mg/100 g for extra virgin and virgin olive oil, respectively. Olive fruit contains several types of polyphenols, mainly tyrosols, phenolic acids, flavonols and flavones, and for


title: Olive content: black olives, anthocyanins. The main bitter flavor of olives before curing results from oleuropein and its aglycone which total in content, respectively, 72 and 82 mg/100 g in black olives, and 56 and 59 mg/100 g in green olives. During the crushing, kneading and extraction of olive fruit to obtain olive oil, oleuropein, demethyloleuropein and ligstroside are hydrolyzed by endogenous beta-glucosidases to form aldehydic aglycones. Polyphenol content also varies with olive cultivar (Spanish Manzanillo highest) and the manner of presentation, with plain olives having higher contents than those that are pitted or stuffed. Olive tree pollen is extremely allergenic, with


title: Olive content: an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. "Olea europaea" is primarily wind-pollinated, and their light, buoyant pollen is a strong trigger for asthma. One popular variety, "Swan Hill", is widely sold as an "allergy-free" olive tree; however, this variety does bloom and produce allergenic pollen. Olive The olive, known by the botanical name Olea europaea, meaning "European olive", is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, found in the Mediterranean Basin from Portugal to the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and southern Asia as far east as China, as well as the Canary Islands and Réunion.


title: Optics content: allowed for his development of the first mathematical models for polarised light. Polarization occurs when light is scattered in the atmosphere. The scattered light produces the brightness and colour in clear skies. This partial polarization of scattered light can be taken advantage of using polarizing filters to darken the sky in photographs. Optical polarization is principally of importance in chemistry due to circular dichroism and optical rotation (""circular birefringence"") exhibited by optically active (chiral) molecules. "Modern optics" encompasses the areas of optical science and engineering that became popular in the 20th century. These areas of optical science typically relate to


title: Optics content: of view of the observer. Because blue light is scattered more easily than red light, the sun takes on a reddish hue when it is observed through a thick atmosphere, as during a sunrise or sunset. Additional particulate matter in the sky can scatter different colours at different angles creating colourful glowing skies at dusk and dawn. Scattering off of ice crystals and other particles in the atmosphere are responsible for halos, afterglows, coronas, rays of sunlight, and sun dogs. The variation in these kinds of phenomena is due to different particle sizes and geometries. Mirages are optical phenomena in


title: "Notary public" content: Harding in 1923, Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as President by his father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr., a Vermont notary public. However, as there was some controversy as to whether a state notary public had the authority to administer the presidential oath of office, Coolidge took the oath, again, upon returning to Washington. Notary public A notary public (or notary or public notary) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business. A notary's main functions are to administer oaths


title: Nairobi content: hub. Nairobi has grown around its central business district. This takes a rectangular shape, around the Uhuru Highway, Haille Selassie Avenue, Moi Avenue, and University Way. It features many of Nairobi's important buildings, including the City Hall and Parliament Building. The city square is also located within the perimeter. Most of the skyscrapers in this region are the headquarters of businesses and corporations, such as I&M and the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The United States Embassy bombing took place in this district, prompting the building of a new embassy building in the suburbs. In 2011, the city was considered to


title: NetHack content: alignment dictate which deity the character serves in the game and "how other monsters react toward you". After the player character is created, the main objective is introduced. To win the game, the player must retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, found at the lowest level of the dungeon, and offer it to their deity. Successful completion of this task rewards the player with the gift of immortality, and the player is said to "ascend", attaining the status of demigod. In addition, a number of sub-quests must be completed, including one class-specific quest. The player's character is, unless they opt not


title: Nylon content: Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers, based on aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyamides. Nylon is a thermoplastic silky material that can be melt-processed into fibres, films, or shapes. It is made of repeating units linked by amide links similar to the peptide bonds in proteins. Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many different property variations. Nylon polymers have found significant commercial applications in fabric and fibres (apparel, flooring and rubber reinforcement), in shapes (molded parts for cars, electrical equipment, etc.), and in films (mostly for food packaging). Nylon


title: Nylon content: was the first commercially successful synthetic thermoplastic polymer. DuPont began its research project in 1927. The first example of nylon (nylon 6,6) was produced using diamines on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Hume Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station. In response to Carothers' work, Paul Schlack at IG Farben developed nylon 6, a different molecule based on caprolactam, on January 29, 1938. Nylon was first used commercially in a nylon-bristled toothbrush in 1938, followed more famously in women's stockings or "nylons" which were shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair and first sold commercially in


title: Nylon content: 1940. During World War II, almost all nylon production was diverted to the military for use in parachutes and parachute cord. Wartime uses of nylon and other plastics greatly increased the market for the new materials. DuPont, founded by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, first produced gunpowder and later cellulose-based paints. Following WWI, DuPont produced synthetic ammonia and other chemicals. DuPont began experimenting with the development of cellulose based fibres, eventually producing the synthetic fibre rayon. DuPont's experience with rayon was an important precursor to its development and marketing of nylon. DuPont's invention of nylon spanned an eleven-year period, ranging from


title: Nylon content: the initial research program in polymers in 1927 to its announcement in 1938, shortly before the opening of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The project grew from a new organizational structure at DuPont, suggested by Charles Stine in 1927, in which the chemical department would be composed of several small research teams that would focus on “pioneering research” in chemistry and would “lead to practical applications”. Harvard instructor Wallace Hume Carothers was hired to direct the polymer research group. Initially he was allowed to focus on pure research, building on and testing the theories of German chemist Hermann Staudinger.


title: Nylon content: He was very successful as research he undertook greatly improved the knowledge of polymers and contributed to science. In the spring of 1930, Carothers and his team had already synthesized two new polymers. One was neoprene, a synthetic rubber greatly used during World War II. The other was a white elastic but strong paste that would later become nylon. After these discoveries Carother’s team was made to shift its research from a more pure research approach investigating general polymerization to a more practically-focused goal of finding “one chemical combination that would lend itself to industrial applications”. It wasn’t until the


title: Nylon content: beginning of 1935 that a polymer called "polymer 6-6" was finally produced. The first example of nylon (nylon 6,6) was produced by Wallace Carothers on February 28, 1935, at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station. It had all the desired properties of elasticity and strength. However, it also required a complex manufacturing process that would become the basis of industrial production in the future. DuPont obtained a patent for the polymer in September 1938, and quickly achieved a monopoly of the fibre. Carothers died 16 months before the announcement of nylon, therefore he was never able to see


title: Nylon content: his success. The production of nylon required interdepartmental collaboration between three departments at DuPont: the Department of Chemical Research, the Ammonia Department, and the Department of Rayon. Some of the key ingredients of nylon had to be produced using high pressure chemistry, the main area of expertise of the Ammonia Department. Nylon was considered a “godsend to the Ammonia Department”, which had been in financial difficulties. The reactants of nylon soon constituted half of the Ammonia department’s sales and helped them come out of the period of the Great Depression by creating jobs and revenue at DuPont. DuPont's nylon project


title: Nylon content: demonstrated the importance of chemical engineering in industry, helped create jobs, and furthered the advancement of chemical engineering techniques. In fact, it developed a chemical plant that provided 1800 jobs and used the latest technologies of the time, which are still used as a model for chemical plants today. The ability to acquire a large number of chemists and engineers quickly was a huge contribution to the success of DuPont's nylon project. The first nylon plant was located at Seaford, Delaware, beginning commercial production on December 15, 1939. On October 26, 1995, the Seaford plant was designated a National Historic


title: Nylon content: Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society. An important part of nylon’s popularity stems from DuPont’s marketing strategy. DuPont promoted the fibre to increase demand before the product was available to the general market. Nylon’s commercial announcement occurred on October 27, 1938, at the final session of the "Herald Tribune"s yearly "Forum on Current Problems", on the site of the approaching New York City world's fair. The “first man-made organic textile fiber” which was derived from “coal, water and air” and promised to be “as strong as steel, as fine as the spider’s web” was received enthusiastically by the audience,


title: Nylon content: many of them middle-class women, and made the headlines of most newspapers. Nylon was introduced as part of "The world of tomorrow" at the 1939 New York World's Fair and was featured at DuPont's "Wonder World of Chemistry" at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939. Actual nylon stockings were not shipped to selected stores in the national market until May 15, 1940. However, a limited number were released for sale in Delaware before that. The first public sale of nylon stockings occurred on October 24, 1939, in Wilmington, Delaware. 4,000 pairs of stockings were available, all


title: Nylon content: of which were sold within three hours. Another added bonus to the campaign was that it meant reducing silk imports from Japan, an argument that won over many wary customers. Nylon was even mentioned by President Roosevelt’s cabinet, which addressed its “vast and interesting economic possibilities” five days after the material was formally announced. However, the early excitement over nylon also caused problems. It fueled unreasonable expectations that nylon would be better than silk, a miracle fabric as strong as steel that would last forever and never run. Realizing the danger of claims such as “New Hosiery Held Strong as


title: Nylon content: Steel” and “No More Runs”, DuPont scaled back the terms of the original announcement, especially those stating that nylon would possess the strength of steel. Also, DuPont executives marketing nylon as a revolutionary man-made material did not at first realize that some consumers experienced a sense of unease and distrust, even fear, towards synthetic fabrics. A particularly damaging news story, drawing on DuPont's 1938 patent for the new polymer, suggested that one method of producing nylon might be to use cadaverine (pentamethylenediamine), a chemical extracted from corpses. Although scientists asserted that cadaverine was also extracted by heating coal, the public


title: Nylon content: often refused to listen. A woman confronted one of the lead scientists at DuPont and refused to accept that the rumour was not true. DuPont changed its campaign strategy, emphasizing that nylon was made from “coal, air and water”, and started focusing on the personal and aesthetic aspects of nylon, rather than its intrinsic qualities. Nylon was thus domesticated, and attention shifted to the material and consumer aspect of the fibre with slogans like “If it’s nylon, it’s prettier, and oh! How fast it dries!”. After nylon’s nationwide release in 1940, production was increased. 1300 tons of the fabric were


title: Nylon content: produced during 1940. During their first year on the market, 64 million pairs of nylon stockings were sold. In 1941, a second plant was opened in Martinsville, Virginia due to the success of the fabric. While nylon was marketed as the durable and indestructible material of the people, it was sold at almost twice the price of silk stockings ($4.27 per pound of nylon versus $2.79 per pound of silk). Sales of nylon stockings were strong in part due to changes in women’s fashion. As Lauren Olds explains: “by 1939 [hemlines] had inched back up to the knee, closing the


title: Nylon content: decade just as it started off”. The shorter skirts were accompanied by a demand for stockings that offered fuller coverage without the use of garters to hold them up. However, as of February 11, 1942, nylon production was redirected from being a consumer material to one used by the military. DuPont's production of nylon stockings and other lingerie stopped, and most manufactured nylon was used to make parachutes and tents for World War II. Although nylon stockings already made before the war could be purchased, they were generally sold on the black market for as high as $20. Once the


title: Nylon content: war ended, the return of nylon was awaited with great anticipation. Although DuPont projected yearly production of 360 million pairs of stockings, there were delays in converting back to consumer rather than wartime production. In 1946, the demand for nylon stockings could not be satisfied, which led to the Nylon Riots. In one case, an estimated 40,000 people lined up in Pittsburgh to buy 13,000 pairs of nylons. In the meantime, women cut up nylon tents and parachutes left from the war in order to make blouses and wedding dresses. Between the end of the war and 1952, production of


title: Nylon content: stockings and lingerie used 80% of the world’s nylon. DuPont put a lot of focus on catering to the civilian demand, and continually expanded its production. As pure nylon hosiery was sold in a wider market, problems became apparent. Nylon stockings were found to be fragile, in the sense that the thread often tended to unravel lengthwise, creating ‘runs’. People also reported that pure nylon textiles could be uncomfortable due to nylon's lack of absorbency. Moisture stayed inside the fabric near the skin under hot or moist conditions instead of being "wicked" away. Nylon fabric could also be itchy, and


title: Nylon content: tended to cling and sometimes spark as a result of static electrical charge built up by friction. Also, under some conditions stockings could decompose turning back into nylon's original components of air, coal, and water. Scientists explained this as a result of air pollution, attributing it to London smog in 1952, as well as poor air quality in New York and Los Angeles. The solution found to problems with pure nylon fabric was to blend nylon with other existing fibres or polymers such as cotton, polyester, and spandex. This led to the development of a wide array of blended fabrics.


title: Nylon content: The new nylon blends retained the desirable properties of nylon (elasticity, durability, ability to be dyed) and kept clothes prices low and affordable. As of 1950, the New York Quartermaster Procurement Agency (NYQMPA), which developed and tested textiles for the army and navy, had committed to developing a wool-nylon blend. They were not the only ones to introduce blends of both natural and synthetic fibres. "America's Textile Reporter" referred to 1951 as the "Year of the blending of the fibers". Fabric blends included mixes like "Bunara" (wool-rabbit-nylon) and "Casmet" (wool-nylon-fur). In Britain in November 1951, the inaugural address of the


title: Nylon content: 198th session of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce focused on the blending of textiles. DuPont's Fabric Development Department cleverly targeted French fashion designers, supplying them with fabric samples. In 1955, designers such as Coco Chanel, Jean Patou, and Christian Dior showed gowns created with DuPont fibres, and fashion photographer Horst P. Horst was hired to document their use of DuPont fabrics. "American Fabrics" credited blends with providing "creative possibilities and new ideas for fashions which had been hitherto undreamed of." DuPont went through an extensive process to generate names for its new product. In


title: Nylon content: 1940, John W. Eckelberry of DuPont stated that the letters "nyl" were arbitrary and the "on" was copied from the suffixes of other fibres such as cotton and Rayon. A later publication by DuPont ("Context", vol. 7, no. 2, 1978) explained that the name was originally intended to be "No-Run" ("run" meaning "unravel"), but was modified to avoid making such an unjustified claim. Since the products were not really run-proof, the vowels were swapped to produce "nuron", which was changed to "nilon" "to make it sound less like a nerve tonic". For clarity in pronunciation, the "i" was changed to


title: Nylon content: "y." In spite of oil shortages in the 1970s, consumption of nylon textiles continued to grow by 7.5 per cent per annum between the 1960s and 1980s. Overall production of synthetic fibres, however, dropped from 63% of the worlds textile production in 1965, to 45% of the world's textile production in early 1970s. The appeal of "new" technologies wore off, and nylon fabric "was going out of style in the 1970s". Also, consumers became concerned about environmental costs throughout the production cycle: obtaining the raw materials (oil), energy use during production, waste produced during creation of the fibre, and eventual


title: Nylon content: waste disposal of materials that were not biodegradable. Synthetic fibres have not dominated the market since the 1950s and 1960s. , nylon continued to represent about 12% (8 million pounds) of the world's production of synthetic fibres. As one of the largest engineering polymer families, the global demand of nylon resins and compounds was valued at roughly US$20.5 billion in 2013. The market is expected to reach US$30 billion by 2020 by following an average annual growth of 5.5%. Although pure nylon has many flaws and is now rarely used, its derivatives have greatly influenced and contributed to society. From


title: Nylon content: scientific discoveries relating to the production of plastics and polymerization, to economic impact during the depression and the changing of women's fashion, nylon was a revolutionary product. The Lunar Flag Assembly, the first flag planted on the moon in a symbolic gesture of celebration, was made of nylon. The flag itself cost $5.50, but had to have a specially-designed flagpole with a horizontal bar so that it would appear to "fly". One historian describes nylon as "an object of desire", comparing the invention to Coca-Cola in the eyes of 20th century consumers. Nylons are condensation polymers or copolymers, formed by


title: Nylon content: reacting difunctional monomers containing equal parts of amine and carboxylic acid, so that amides are formed at both ends of each monomer in a process analogous to polypeptide biopolymers. Most nylons are made from the reaction of a dicarboxylic acid with a diamine (e.g. PA66) or a lactam or amino acid with itself (e.g. PA6). In the first case, the "repeating unit" consists of one of each monomer, so that they alternate in the chain, similar to the so-called ABAB structure of polyesters and polyurethanes. Since each monomer in this copolymer has the same reactive group on both ends, the


title: Nylon content: direction of the amide bond reverses between each monomer, unlike natural polyamide proteins, which have overall directionality: C terminal → N terminal. In the second case (so called AA), the repeating unit corresponds to the single monomer. In common usage, the prefix 'PA' (polyamide) or the name 'Nylon' are used interchangeably and are equivalent in meaning. The nomenclature used for nylon polymers was devised during the synthesis of the first simple aliphatic nylons and uses numbers to describe the number of carbons in each monomer unit, including the carbon(s) of the carboxylic acid(s). Subsequent use of cyclic and aromatic monomers


title: Nylon content: required the use of letters or sets of letters. One number after 'PA' or 'Nylon' indicates a homopolymer which is "monadic" or based on one amino acid (minus HO) as monomer: Two numbers or sets of letters indicate a "dyadic" homopolymer formed from two monomers: one diamine and one dicarboxylic acid. The first number indicates the number of carbons in the diamine. The two numbers should be separated by a comma for clarity, but the comma is often omitted. For copolymers the comonomers or pairs of comonomers are separated by slashes: The term polyphthalamide (abbreviated to PPA) is used when


title: Nylon content: 60% or more moles of the carboxylic acid portion of the repeating unit in the polymer chain is composed of a combination of terephthalic acid (TPA) and isophthalic acid (IPA). Wallace Carothers at DuPont patented nylon 66 using amides. In the case of nylons that involve reaction of a diamine and a dicarboxylic acid, it is difficult to get the proportions exactly correct, and deviations can lead to chain termination at molecular weights less than a desirable 10,000 daltons (u). To overcome this problem, a crystalline, solid "nylon salt" can be formed at room temperature, using an exact 1:1 ratio


title: Nylon content: of the acid and the base to neutralize each other. The salt is crystallized to purify it and obtain the desired precise stoichiometry. Heated to 285 °C (545 °F), the salt reacts to form nylon polymer with the production of water. The synthetic route using lactams (cyclic amides) was developed by Paul Schlack at IG Farben, leading to nylon 6, or polycaprolactam — formed by a ring-opening polymerization. The peptide bond within the caprolactam is broken with the exposed active groups on each side being incorporated into two new bonds as the monomer becomes part of the polymer backbone. The


title: Nylon content: 428 °F (220 °C) melting point of nylon 6 is lower than the 509 °F (265 °C) melting point of nylon 66. Nylon 510, made from pentamethylene diamine and sebacic acid, was studied by Carothers even before nylon 66 and has superior properties, but is more expensive to make. In keeping with this naming convention, "nylon 6,12" or "PA 612" is a copolymer of a 6C diamine and a 12C diacid. Similarly for PA 510 PA 611; PA 1012, etc. Other nylons include copolymerized dicarboxylic acid/diamine products that are "not" based upon the monomers listed above. For example, some fully


title: Nylon content: aromatic nylons (known as "aramids") are polymerized with the addition of diacids like terephthalic acid (→ Kevlar, Twaron) or isophthalic acid (→ Nomex), more commonly associated with polyesters. There are copolymers of PA 66/6; copolymers of PA 66/6/12; and others. In general linear polymers are the most useful, but it is possible to introduce branches in nylon by the condensation of dicarboxylic acids with polyamines having three or more amino groups. The general reaction is: Two molecules of water are given off and the nylon is formed. Its properties are determined by the R and R' groups in the monomers.


title: Nylon content: In nylon 6,6, R = 4C and R' = 6C alkanes, but one also has to include the two carboxyl carbons in the diacid to get the number it donates to the chain. In Kevlar, both R and R' are benzene rings. Industrial synthesis is usually done by heating the acids, amines or lactams to remove water, but in the laboratory, diacid chlorides can be reacted with diamines. For example, a popular demonstration of interfacial polymerization (the "nylon rope trick") is the synthesis of nylon 66 from adipoyl chloride and hexamethylene diamine. Nylons can also be synthesized from dinitriles using


title: Nylon content: acid catalysis. For example, this method is applicable for preparation of nylon 1,6 from adiponitrile, formaldehyde and water. Additionally, nylons can be synthesized from diols and dinitriles using this method as well. Nylon monomers are manufactured by a variety of routes, starting in most cases from crude oil but sometimes from biomass. Those in current production are described below. Various diamine components can be used, which are derived from a variety of sources. Most are petrochemicals, but bio-based materials are also being developed. Due to the large number of diamines, diacids and aminoacids that can be synthesized, many nylon polymers


title: Nylon content: have been made experimentally and characterized to varying degrees. A smaller number have been scaled up and offered commercially, and these are detailed below. Homopolymer nylons derived from one monomer Examples of these polymers that are or were commercially available Homopolymer polyamides derived from pairs of diamines and diacids (or diacid derivatives). Shown in the table below are polymers which are or have been offered commercially either as homopolymers or as a part of a copolymer. Examples of these polymers that are or were commercially available It is easy to make mixtures of the monomers or sets of monomers used


title: Nylon content: to make nylons to obtain copolymers. This lowers crystallinity and can therefore lower the melting point. Some copolymers that have been or are commercially available are listed below: Most nylon polymers are miscible with each other allowing a range of blends to be made. The two polymers can react with one another by transamidation to form random copolymers. According to their crystallinity, polyamides can be: According to this classification, PA66, for example, is an aliphatic semi-crystalline homopolyamide. All nylons are susceptible to hydrolysis, especially by strong acids, a reaction essentially the reverse of the synthetic reaction shown above. The molecular


title: Nylon content: weight of nylon products so attacked drops, and cracks form quickly at the affected zones. Lower members of the nylons (such as nylon 6) are affected more than higher members such as nylon 12. This means that nylon parts cannot be used in contact with sulfuric acid for example, such as the electrolyte used in lead–acid batteries. When being molded, nylon must be dried to prevent hydrolysis in the molding machine barrel since water at high temperatures can also degrade the polymer. The reaction is of the type: Berners-Lee calculates the average greenhouse gas footprint of nylon in manufacturing carpets


title: Nylon content: at 5.43 kg CO equivalent per kg, when produced in Europe. This gives it almost the same carbon footprint as wool, but with greater durability and therefore a lower overall carbon footprint. Data published by PlasticsEurope indicates for nylon 66 a greenhouse gas footprint of 6.4 kg CO equivalent per kg, and an energy consumption of 138 kJ/kg. When considering the environmental impact of nylon, it is important to consider the use phase. In particular when cars are lightweighted, significant savings in fuel consumption and CO emissions are realised. Various nylons break down in fire and form hazardous smoke, and


title: Nylon content: toxic fumes or ash, typically containing hydrogen cyanide. Incinerating nylons to recover the high energy used to create them is usually expensive, so most nylons reach the garbage dumps, decaying slowly. Discarded nylon fabric takes 30–40 years to decompose. Nylon is a robust polymer and lends itself well to recycling. Much nylon resin is recycled directly in a closed loop at the injection molding machine, by grinding sprues and runners and mixing them with the virgin granules being consumed by the molding machine. Above their melting temperatures, "T", thermoplastics like nylon are amorphous solids or viscous fluids in which the


title: Nylon content: chains approximate random coils. Below "T", amorphous regions alternate with regions which are lamellar crystals. The amorphous regions contribute elasticity and the crystalline regions contribute strength and rigidity. The planar amide (-CO-NH-) groups are very polar, so nylon forms multiple hydrogen bonds among adjacent strands. Because the nylon backbone is so regular and symmetrical, especially if all the amide bonds are in the "trans" configuration, nylons often have high crystallinity and make excellent fibres. The amount of crystallinity depends on the details of formation, as well as on the kind of nylon. Nylon 66 can have multiple parallel strands aligned


title: Nylon content: with their neighboring peptide bonds at coordinated separations of exactly 6 and 4 carbons for considerable lengths, so the carbonyl oxygens and amide hydrogens can line up to form interchain hydrogen bonds repeatedly, without interruption (see the figure opposite). Nylon 510 can have coordinated runs of 5 and 8 carbons. Thus parallel (but not antiparallel) strands can participate in extended, unbroken, multi-chain β-pleated sheets, a strong and tough supermolecular structure similar to that found in natural silk fibroin and the β-keratins in feathers. (Proteins have only an amino acid α-carbon separating sequential -CO-NH- groups.) Nylon 6 will form uninterrupted H-bonded


title: Nylon content: sheets with mixed directionalities, but the β-sheet wrinkling is somewhat different. The three-dimensional disposition of each alkane hydrocarbon chain depends on rotations about the 109.47° tetrahedral bonds of singly bonded carbon atoms. When extruded into fibres through pores in an industry spinneret, the individual polymer chains tend to align because of viscous flow. If subjected to cold drawing afterwards, the fibres align further, increasing their crystallinity, and the material acquires additional tensile strength. In practice, nylon fibres are most often drawn using heated rolls at high speeds. Block nylon tends to be less crystalline, except near the surfaces due to


title: Nylon content: shearing stresses during formation. Nylon is clear and colourless, or milky, but is easily dyed. Multistranded nylon cord and rope is slippery and tends to unravel. The ends can be melted and fused with a heat source such as a flame or electrode to prevent this. Nylons are hygroscopic, and will absorb or desorb moisture as a function of the ambient humidity. Variations in moisture content have several effects on the polymer. Firstly, the dimensions will change, but more importantly moisture acts as a plasticizer, lowering the glass transition temperature ("T"), and consequently the elastic modulus at temperatures below the


title: Nylon content: "T" When dry, polyamide is a good electrical insulator. However, polyamide is hygroscopic. The absorption of water will change some of the material's properties such as its electrical resistance. Nylon is less absorbent than wool or cotton. The characteristic features of nylon 6,6 include: On the other hand, nylon 6 is easy to dye, more readily fades; it has a higher impact resistance, a more rapid moisture absorption, greater elasticity and elastic recovery. Nylon clothing tends to be less flammable than cotton and rayon, but nylon fibres may melt and stick to skin. Bill Pittendreigh, DuPont, and other individuals and


title: Nylon content: corporations worked diligently during the first few months of World War II to find a way to replace Asian silk and hemp with nylon in parachutes. It was also used to make tires, tents, ropes, ponchos, and other military supplies. It was even used in the production of a high-grade paper for U.S. currency. At the outset of the war, cotton accounted for more than 80% of all fibres used and manufactured, and wool fibres accounted for nearly all of the rest. By August 1945, manufactured fibres had taken a market share of 25%, at the expense of cotton. After


title: Nylon content: the war, because of shortages of both silk and nylon, nylon parachute material was sometimes repurposed to make dresses. Nylon 6 and 66 fibres are used in carpet manufacture. Nylon is one kind of fibres used in tire cord. Herman E. Schroeder pioneered application of nylon in tires. Nylon resins are widely used in the automobile industry especially in the engine compartment. Molded nylon is used in hair combs and mechanical parts such as machine screws, gears, gaskets, and other low- to medium-stress components previously cast in metal. Engineering-grade nylon is processed by extrusion, casting, and injection molding. Type 6,6


title: Nylon content: Nylon 101 is the most common commercial grade of nylon, and Nylon 6 is the most common commercial grade of molded nylon. For use in tools such as spudgers, nylon is available in glass-filled variants which increase structural and impact strength and rigidity, and molybdenum disulfide-filled variants which increase lubricity. Its various properties also make it very useful as a material in additive manufacturing; specifically as a filament in consumer and professional grade fused deposition modeling 3D printers. Nylon can be used as the matrix material in composite materials, with reinforcing fibres like glass or carbon fibre; such a composite


title: Nylon content: has a higher density than pure nylon. Such thermoplastic composites (25% to 30% glass fibre) are frequently used in car components next to the engine, such as intake manifolds, where the good heat resistance of such materials makes them feasible competitors to metals. Nylon was used to make the stock of the Remington Nylon 66 rifle. The frame of the modern Glock pistol is made of a nylon composite. Nylon resins are used as a component of food packaging films where an oxygen barrier is needed. Some of the terpolymers based upon nylon are used every day in packaging. Nylon


title: Nylon content: has been used for meat wrappings and sausage sheaths. The high temperature resistance of nylon makes it useful for oven bags. Nylon filaments are primarily used in brushes especially toothbrushes and string trimmers. They are also used as monofilaments in fishing line. Nylon 610 and 612 are the most used polymers for filaments. Its various properties also make it very useful as a material in additive manufacturing; specifically as a filament in consumer and professional grade fused deposition modeling 3D printers. Nylon resins can be extruded into rods, tubes and sheets. Nylon powders are used to powder coat metals. Nylon


title: Nylon content: 11 and nylon 12 are the most widely used. In the mid-1940s, classical guitarist Andrés Segovia mentioned the shortage of good guitar strings in the United States, particularly his favorite Pirastro catgut strings, to a number of foreign diplomats at a party, including General Lindeman of the British Embassy. A month later, the General presented Segovia with some nylon strings which he had obtained via some members of the DuPont family. Segovia found that although the strings produced a clear sound, they had a faint metallic timbre which he hoped could be eliminated. Nylon strings were first tried on stage


title: Nylon content: by Olga Coelho in New York in January, 1944. In 1946, Segovia and string maker Albert Augustine were introduced by their mutual friend Vladimir Bobri, editor of Guitar Review. On the basis of Segovia's interest and Augustine's past experiments, they decided to pursue the development of nylon strings. DuPont, skeptical of the idea, agreed to supply the nylon if Augustine would endeavor to develop and produce the actual strings. After three years of development, Augustine demonstrated a nylon first string whose quality impressed guitarists, including Segovia, in addition to DuPont. Wound strings, however, were more problematic. Eventually, however, after experimenting


title: Nylon content: with various types of metal and smoothing and polishing techniques, Augustine was also able to produce high quality nylon wound strings. While nylon fabric is washable, with the use of any household soap or detergent, reference instructions from the manufacturer concerning whether to wash or dry clean the product. Dyes, finishes, and trims added to the fabric may not be machine washable. Delicate articles should always be hand washed. Due to discolouration of the fabric, white nylon items should be washed separately from colours. Bleaching can damage nylon articles and therefore should only be used sparingly on stains that cannot


title: Nylon content: be removed by a regular wash. Begin by rinsing with warm water and smooth by hand. Product can either hang to dry after squeezing moisture out or hang dripping wet. Though nylon articles can dry indoors or outdoors, it is important to keep coloured nylon out of too much direct sunlight. The colours can fade after time. When hung to dry, many nylon garments need little to no ironing. If needed, use the iron at around 250° with the article being either damp or dry. A temperature higher than that will cause damage and may melt the plastic like material.


title: Nylon content: Using a steamer is also acceptable. Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers, based on aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyamides. Nylon is a thermoplastic silky material that can be melt-processed into fibres, films, or shapes. It is made of repeating units linked by amide links similar to the peptide bonds in proteins. Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many different property variations. Nylon polymers have found significant commercial applications in fabric and fibres (apparel, flooring and rubber reinforcement), in shapes (molded parts for cars, electrical equipment, etc.), and in


title: Octopus content: blood. Respiration involves drawing water into the mantle cavity through an aperture, passing it through the gills, and expelling it through the siphon. The ingress of water is achieved by contraction of radial muscles in the mantle wall, and flapper valves shut when strong circular muscles force the water out through the siphon. Extensive connective tissue lattices support the respiratory muscles and allow them to expand the respiratory chamber. The lamella structure of the gills allows for a high oxygen uptake; up to 65% in water at . Water flow over the gills correlates with locomotion, and an octopus can


title: "Limited overs cricket" content: Cup is a 50 overs tournament held since 1969. The sides that compete are the following: In 2006 Cricket Australia introduced the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash which was amongst the state teams (as above). In 2011 this was expanded to the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash League, consisting of teams based in the capital cities of Australia. The teams are as follows: The National One Day Cricket League is sponsored by Mirzapore Tea. It currently runs from November to March, with each team playing the other home and away once in a round-robin format. These six teams compete for the League


title: "Open Source Initiative" content: Open Source Initiative The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting open-source software. The organization was founded in late February 1998 by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, part of a group inspired by the Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product. Later, in August 1998, the organization added a board of directors. Raymond was president from its founding until February 2005, followed briefly by Russ Nelson and then Michael Tiemann. In May 2012, the new board elected Simon Phipps as president and in May 2015 Allison Randal was elected


title: Opera content: famous of which was "Die Fledermaus", which is still regularly performed today. Nevertheless, rather than copying the style of Offenbach, the operettas of Strauss II had distinctly Viennese flavor to them, which have cemented the Strauss II's place as one of the most renowned operetta composers of all time. In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition was founded by the Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully at the court of King Louis XIV. Despite his foreign origin, Lully established an Academy of Music and monopolised French opera from 1672. Starting with "Cadmus et Hermione", Lully and his librettist Quinault


title: Orangutan content: Orangutan The orangutans (also spelled orang-utan, orangutang, or orang-utang) are three extant species of great apes native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Orangutans are currently only found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species. From 1996, they were divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan ("P. pygmaeus", with three subspecies) and the Sumatran orangutan ("P. abelii"). In November 2017 it was reported that a third species had been identified, the Tapanuli orangutan ("P. tapanuliensis"). Genomic comparisons show that the Tapanuli orangutan separated from the Sumatran orangutan about 3.4


title: Orangutan content: million years ago. The Tapanuli orangutan separated from the Bornean orangutan much later, about 670,000 years ago. The orangutans are the only surviving species of the subfamily Ponginae, which also included several other species, such as the three extinct species of the genus "Gigantopithecus", including the largest known primate, "Gigantopithecus blacki". The ancestors of the Ponginae split from the main ape line in Africa 16 to 19 million years ago (Mya) and spread into Asia. Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes and spend most of their time in trees. Their hair is reddish-brown, instead of the brown


title: Orangutan content: or black hair typical of chimpanzees and gorillas. Males and females differ in size and appearance. Dominant adult males have distinctive cheek pads and produce long calls that attract females and intimidate rivals. Younger males do not have these characteristics and resemble adult females. Orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes, with social bonds occurring primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring, who stay together for the first two years. Fruit is the most important component of an orangutan's diet; however, the apes will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even bird eggs. They can live over


title: Orangutan content: 30 years in both the wild and captivity. Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates; they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. The apes have been extensively studied for their learning abilities. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations. Field studies of the apes were pioneered by primatologist Birutė Galdikas. All three orangutan species are considered to be critically endangered. Human activities have caused severe declines in populations and ranges. Threats to wild orangutan populations include poaching, habitat destruction as a result of palm oil cultivation, and the


title: Orangutan content: illegal pet trade. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of orangutans in the wild. The name "orangutan" (also written orang-utan, orang utan, orangutang, and ourang-outang) is derived from the Malay and Indonesian words "orang" meaning "person" and "hutan" meaning "forest", thus "person of the forest". The Malay words used to refer specifically to the ape are "maias" and "mawas", but it is unclear if those words refer to just orangutans, or to all apes in general. The first attestation of the word "orangutan" to name the Asian ape is in Dutch physician Jacobus Bontius' 1631 "Historiae


title: Orangutan content: naturalis et medicae Indiae orientalis" – he reported that Malays had informed him the ape was able to talk, but preferred not to "lest he be compelled to labour". The word appeared in several German-language descriptions of Indonesian zoology in the 17th century. The likely origin of the word comes specifically from the Banjarese variety of Malay. Cribb et al. (2014) suggest that Bontius' account referred not to apes (which were not known from Java) but rather to humans suffering some serious medical condition (most likely endemic cretinism) and that his use of the word was misunderstood by Nicolaes Tulp,


title: Orangutan content: who was the first to use the term in a publication. The word was first attested in English in 1691 in the form "orang-outang", and variants with "-ng" instead of "-n" as in the Malay original are found in many languages. This spelling (and pronunciation) has remained in use in English up to the present, but has come to be regarded as incorrect. The loss of "h" in Utan and the shift from n to -ng has been taken to suggest that the term entered English through Portuguese. In 1869, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, co-creator of modern evolutionary theory,


title: Orangutan content: published his account of Malaysia's wildlife: "The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise". The name of the genus, "Pongo", comes from a 16th-century account by Andrew Battel, an English sailor held prisoner by the Portuguese in Angola, which describes two anthropoid "monsters" named Pongo and Engeco. He is now believed to have been describing gorillas, but in the 18th century, the terms orangutan and pongo were used for all great apes. Lacépède used the term "Pongo" for the genus following the German botanist Friedrich von Wurmb who sent a skeleton from the Indies to


title: Orangutan content: Europe. Battel's "Pongo", in turn, is from the Kongo word "mpongi" or other cognates from the region: Lumbu "pungu", Vili "mpungu", or Yombi "yimpungu" . The three orangutan species are the only extant members of the subfamily Ponginae. This subfamily also included the extinct genera "Lufengpithecus", which lived in southern China and Thailand 2–8 mya, and "Sivapithecus", which lived India and Pakistan from 12.5 mya until 8.5 mya. These apes likely lived in drier and cooler environments than orangutans do today. "Khoratpithecus piriyai", which lived in Thailand 5–7 mya, is believed to have been the closest known relative of the


title: Orangutan content: orangutans. The largest known primate, "Gigantopithecus", was also a member of Ponginae and lived in China, India and Vietnam from 5 mya to 100,000 years ago. Within apes (superfamily Hominoidea), the gibbons diverged during the early Miocene (between 19.7 and 24.1 mya, according to molecular evidence) and the orangutans split from the African great ape lineage between 15.7 and 19.3 mya. The orangutan was first described scientifically in 1760 in the "Systema Naturae" of Linnaeus as "Simia satyrus". The populations on the two islands were classified as separate species when "P. abelii" was described by Lesson in 1827. Later "P.


title: Orangutan content: abelii" was placed under "P. pygmaeus", first as a synonym, then in 1985 as a subspecies. In 1996, "P. abelii" was elevated back to full species status, and the three distinct populations on Borneo were elevated to subspecies. The population currently listed as "P. p. wurmbii" may be closer to the Sumatran orangutan than the other Bornean orangutan subspecies. If confirmed, "abelii" would be a subspecies of "P. wurmbii" (Tiedeman, 1808). Regardless, the type locality of "P. pygmaeus" has not been established beyond doubts, and may be from the population currently listed as "P. wurmbii" (in which case "P. wurmbii"


title: Orangutan content: would be a junior synonym of "P. pygmaeus", while one of the names currently considered a junior synonym of "P. pygmaeus" would take precedence for the northwest Bornean taxon). To further confuse, the name "P. morio", as well as some suggested junior synonyms, may be junior synonyms of the "P. pygmaeus" subspecies, thus leaving the east Bornean populations unnamed. The description in 2017 of a third species, "P. tapanuliensis", from Sumatra south of Lake Toba, came with a surprising twist: it is more closely related to the Bornean species, "P. pygmaeus" than to its fellow Sumatran species, "P. abelii". Some


title: Orangutan content: fossils described under the name "P. hooijeri" have been found in Vietnam, and multiple fossil subspecies have been described from several parts of southeastern Asia. It is unclear if these belong to "P. pygmaeus" or "P. abelii" or, in fact, represent distinct species. The Sumatran orangutan genome was sequenced in January 2011. Following humans and chimpanzees, the Sumatran orangutan became the third species of hominid to have its genome sequenced. Subsequently, the Bornean species had its genome sequenced. Genetic diversity was found to be lower in Bornean orangutans ("P. pygmaeus") than in Sumatran ones ("P. abelii"), despite the fact that


title: Orangutan content: Borneo is home to six or seven times as many orangutans as Sumatra. The comparison has shown these two species diverged around 400,000 years ago, more recently than was previously thought. Also, the orangutan genome was found to have evolved much more slowly than chimpanzee and human DNA. Previously, the species was estimated to have diverged 2.9 to 4.9 mya. The researchers hope these data may help conservationists save the endangered ape, and also prove useful in further understanding of human genetic diseases. Bornean orangutans have 48 diploid chromosomes. However, nuclear DNA sequence comparisons reported in 2017 suggest that Tapanuli


title: Orangutan content: orangutans diverged from Sumatran orangutans about 3.4 million years ago. Tapanuli orangutans diverged from Bornean orangutans, much later, about 670,000 years ago. Orangutans travelled from Sumatra to Borneo as the islands were connected by land bridges as parts of Sundaland during recent glacial periods when sea levels were much lower. The present range of Tapanuli orangutans is thought to be close to the point where ancestral orangutans first entered what is now Indonesia from mainland Asia. An orangutan has a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. It is mostly covered


title: Orangutan content: with long, reddish-brown hair and grey-black skin. Sumatran orangutans have more sparse and lighter-coloured coats. The orangutan has a large head with a prominent mouth area. Though largely hairless, their faces can develop some hair in males, giving them a moustache. Adult males have large cheek flaps to show their dominance to other males. The cheek flaps are made mostly of fatty tissue and are supported by the musculature of the face. Mature males' throat pouches allow them to make loud calls. The species display significant sexual dimorphism; females typically stand tall and weigh around , while flanged adult males


title: Orangutan content: stand tall and weigh . A male orangutan has an arm span of about . Orangutan hands are similar to human hands; they have four long fingers and an opposable thumb. However, the joint and tendon arrangement in the orangutans' hands produces two adaptations that are significant for arboreal locomotion. The resting configuration of the fingers is curved, creating a suspensory hook grip. Additionally, without the use of the thumb, the fingers and hands can grip tightly around objects with a small diameter by resting the tops of the fingers against the inside of the palm, creating a double-locked grip.


title: Orangutan content: Their feet have four long toes and an opposable big toe. Orangutans can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. Their fingers and toes are curved, allowing them to get a better grip on branches. Since their hip joints have the same flexibility as their shoulder and arm joints, orangutans have less restriction in the movements of their legs than humans have. Unlike gorillas and chimpanzees, orangutans are not true knuckle-walkers, and are instead fist-walkers. Orangutans live in primary and old secondary forests, particularly dipterocarp forests and peat swamp forests. Both species can be found in mountainous and


title: Orangutan content: lowland swampy areas. Sumatran orangutans live at elevations as high as 1500 m (4921 ft), while Bornean orangutans live no higher than 1000 m (3281 ft). Other habitats used by orangutans include grasslands, cultivated fields, gardens, young secondary forest, and shallow lakes. Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes, spending nearly all their time in the trees. Orangutans are opportunistic foragers, and their diets vary markedly from month to month. Fruit makes up 65–90% of the orangutan diet, and those with sugary or fatty pulp are favoured. Ficus fruits are commonly eaten and are easy to harvest and


title: Orangutan content: digest. Lowland dipterocarp forests are preferred by orangutans because of their plentiful fruit. Bornean orangutans consume at least 317 different food items that include young leaves, shoots, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs. Orangutans in Sumatra occasionally eat slow lorises. A decade-long study of urine and faecal samples at the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Project in West Kalimantan has shown that orangutans give birth during and after the high fruit season (though not every year), during which they consume various abundant fruits, totalling up to 11,000 calories per day. In the low-fruit season, they eat whatever fruit is available in


title: Orangutan content: addition to tree bark and leaves, with daily intake at only 2,000 calories. Together with a long lactation period, orangutans also have a long birth interval. Orangutans are thought to be the sole fruit disperser for some plant species including the climber species "Strychnos ignatii" which contains the toxic alkaloid strychnine. It does not appear to have any effect on orangutans except for excessive saliva production. Geophagy, the practice of eating soil or rock, has been observed in orangutans. There are three main reasons for this dietary behaviour: for the addition of mineral nutrients to their diet; for the ingestion


title: Orangutan content: of clay minerals that can absorb toxic substances; or to treat a disorder such as diarrhoea. Orangutans also use plants of the genus "Commelina" as an anti-inflammatory balm. Orangutans live a more solitary lifestyle than the other great apes. Most social bonds occur between adult females and their dependent and weaned offspring. Adult males and independent adolescents of both sexes tend to live alone. Orangutan societies are made up of resident and transient individuals of both sexes. Resident females live with their offspring in defined home ranges that overlap with those of other adult females, which may be their immediate


title: Orangutan content: relatives. One to several resident female home ranges are encompassed within the home range of a resident male, who is their main mating partner. Transient males and females move widely. Orangutans usually travel alone, but they may travel in small groups in their subadult years. However, this behaviour ends at adulthood. The social structure of the orangutan can be best described as solitary but social. Interactions between adult females range from friendly to avoidance to antagonistic. Resident males may have overlapping ranges and interactions between them tend to be hostile. During dispersal, females tend to settle in home ranges that


title: Orangutan content: overlap with their mothers. However, they do not seem to have any special social bonds with them. Males disperse much farther from their mothers and enter into a transient phase. This phase lasts until a male can challenge and displace a dominant, resident male from his home range. Adult males dominate sub-adult males. Both resident and transient orangutans aggregate on large fruiting trees to feed. The fruits tend to be abundant, so competition is low and individuals may engage in social interactions. Orangutans will also form travelling groups with members moving between different food sources. These groups tend to be


title: Orangutan content: made of only a few individuals. They also tend to be consortships between an adult male and female. Orangutans communicate with various sounds. Males will make long calls, both to attract females and advertise themselves to other males. Both sexes will try to intimidate conspecifics with a series of low guttural noises known collectively as the "rolling call". When annoyed, an orangutan will suck in air through pursed lips, making a kissing sound that is hence known as the "kiss squeak". Infants make soft hoots when distressed. Orangutans are also known to blow raspberries. Orangutans build nests specialized for both


title: Orangutan content: day or night use. These are carefully constructed; young orangutans learn from observing their mother's nest-building behaviour. In fact, nest-building is a leading cause in young orangutans leaving their mother for the first time. From six months of age onwards, orangutans practice nest-building and gain proficiency by the time they are three years old. Construction of a night nest is done by following a sequence of steps. Initially, a suitable tree is located, orangutans being selective about sites though many tree species are used. The nest is then built by pulling together branches under them and joining them at a


title: Orangutan content: point. After the foundation has been built, the orangutan bends smaller, leafy branches onto the foundation; this serves the purpose of and is termed the "mattress". After this, orangutans stand and braid the tips of branches into the mattress. Doing this increases the stability of the nest and forms the final act of nest-building. In addition, orangutans may add additional features, such as "pillows", "blankets", "roofs" and "bunk-beds" to their nests. Males mature at around 15 years of age, by which time they have fully descended testicles and can reproduce. However, they exhibit arrested development by not developing the distinctive


title: Orangutan content: cheek pads, pronounced throat pouches, long fur, or long-calls until they are between 15 and 20 years old. The development of these characteristics depends largely on the absence of a resident male. Males without them are known as unflanged males in contrast to the more developed flanged males. The transformation from unflanged to flanged can occur very quickly. Unflanged and flanged males have two different mating strategies. Flanged males attract oestrous females with their characteristic long calls. Those calls may also suppress development in younger males. Unflanged males wander widely in search of oestrous females and upon finding one, will


title: Orangutan content: force copulation on her. While both strategies are successful, females prefer to mate with flanged males and seek their company for protection against unflanged males. Resident males may form consortships with females that can last days, weeks or months after copulation. Female orangutans experience their first ovulatory cycle around 5.8–11.1 years. These occur earlier in females with more body fat. Like other great apes, female orangutans enter a period of infertility during adolescence which may last for 1–4 years. Female orangutans also have a 22– to 30-day menstrual cycle. Gestation lasts for 9 months, with females giving birth to their


title: Orangutan content: first offspring between the ages of 14 and 15 years. Female orangutans have eight-year intervals between births, the longest interbirth intervals among the great apes. Unlike many other primates, male orangutans do not seem to practice infanticide. This may be because they cannot ensure they will sire a female's next offspring because she does not immediately begin ovulating again after her infant dies. Male orangutans play almost no role in raising the young. Females do most of the caring and socializing of the young. A female often has an older offspring with her to help in socializing the infant. Infant


title: Orangutan content: orangutans are completely dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives. The mother will carry the infant during travelling, as well as feed it and sleep with it in the same night nest. For the first four months, the infant is carried on its belly and never relieves physical contact. In the following months, the time an infant spends with its mother decreases. When an orangutan reaches the age of two, its climbing skills improve and it will travel through the canopy holding hands with other orangutans, a behaviour known as "buddy travel". Orangutans are juveniles


title: Orangutan content: from about two to five years of age and will start to temporarily move away from their mothers. Juveniles are usually weaned at about four years of age. Adolescent orangutans will socialize with their peers while still having contact with their mothers. Typically, orangutans live for over 30 years in both the wild and captivity. Orangutans are among the most intelligent non-human primates. Experiments suggest they can figure out some invisible displacement problems with a representational strategy. In addition, Zoo Atlanta has a touch-screen computer where their two Sumatran orangutans play games. Scientists hope the data they collect will help


title: Orangutan content: researchers learn about socialising patterns, such as whether the apes learn behaviours through trial and error or by mimicry, and point to new conservation strategies. A 2008 study of two orangutans at the Leipzig Zoo showed orangutans can use "calculated reciprocity", which involves weighing the costs and benefits of gift exchanges and keeping track of these over time. Orangutans are the first nonhuman species documented to do so. Orangutans are very technically adept nest builders, making a new nest each evening in only 5 to 6 minutes and choosing branches which they know can support their body weight. Tool use


title: Orangutan content: in orangutans was observed by primatologist Birutė Galdikas in ex-captive populations. In addition, evidence of sophisticated tool manufacture and use in the wild was reported from a population of orangutans in Suaq Balimbing ("Pongo abelii") in 1996. These orangutans developed a tool kit for use in foraging that consisted of both insect-extraction tools for use in the hollows of trees and seed-extraction tools for harvesting seeds from hard-husked fruit. The orangutans adjusted their tools according to the nature of the task at hand, and preference was given to oral tool use. This preference was also found in an experimental study


title: Orangutan content: of captive orangutans ("P. pygmaeus"). Primatologist Carel P. van Schaik and biological anthropologist Cheryl D. Knott further investigated tool use in different wild orangutan populations. They compared geographic variations in tool use related to the processing of "Neesia" fruit. The orangutans of Suaq Balimbing ("P. abelii") were found to be avid users of insect and seed-extraction tools when compared to other wild orangutans. The scientists suggested these differences are cultural. The orangutans at Suaq Balimbing live in dense groups and are socially tolerant; this creates good conditions for social transmission. Further evidence that highly social orangutans are more likely to


title: Orangutan content: exhibit cultural behaviours came from a study of leaf-carrying behaviours of ex-captive orangutans that were being rehabilitated on the island of Kaja in Borneo. Wild orangutans ("P. pygmaeus wurmbii") in Tuanan, Borneo, were reported to use tools in acoustic communication. They use leaves to amplify the kiss squeak sounds they produce. The apes may employ this method of amplification to deceive the listener into believing they are larger animals. In 2003, researchers from six different orangutan field sites who used the same behavioural coding scheme compared the behaviours of the animals from the different sites. They found the different orangutan


title: Orangutan content: populations behaved differently. The evidence suggested the differences were cultural: first, the extent of the differences increased with distance, suggesting cultural diffusion was occurring, and second, the size of the orangutans' cultural repertoire increased according to the amount of social contact present within the group. Social contact facilitates cultural transmission. A study of orangutan symbolic capability was conducted from 1973 to 1975 by zoologist Gary L. Shapiro with Aazk, a juvenile female orangutan at the Fresno City Zoo (now Chaffee Zoo) in Fresno, California. The study employed the techniques of psychologist David Premack, who used plastic tokens to teach linguistic


title: Orangutan content: skills to the chimpanzee, Sarah. Shapiro continued to examine the linguistic and learning abilities of ex-captive orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park, in Indonesian Borneo, between 1978 and 1980. During that time, Shapiro instructed ex-captive orangutans in the acquisition and use of signs following the techniques of psychologists R. Allen Gardner and Beatrix Gardner, who taught the chimpanzee, Washoe, in the late 1960s. In the only signing study ever conducted in a great ape's natural environment, Shapiro home-reared Princess, a juvenile female, which learned nearly 40 signs (according to the criteria of sign acquisition used by psychologist Francine Patterson with


title: Orangutan content: Koko, the gorilla) and trained Rinnie, a free-ranging adult female orangutan, which learned nearly 30 signs over a two-year period. For his dissertation study, Shapiro examined the factors influencing sign learning by four juvenile orangutans over a 15-month period. Orangutans were known to the native people of Sumatra and Borneo for millennia. While some communities hunted them for food and decoration, others placed taboos on such practices. In central Borneo, some traditional folk beliefs consider it bad luck to look in the face of an orangutan. Some folk tales involve orangutans mating with and kidnapping humans. There are even stories


title: Orangutan content: of hunters being seduced by female orangutans. Europeans became aware of the existence of the orangutan possibly as early as the 17th century. European explorers in Borneo hunted them extensively during the 19th century. The first accurate description of orangutans was given by Dutch anatomist Petrus Camper, who observed the animals and dissected some specimens. Little was known about their behaviour until the field studies of Birutė Galdikas, who became a leading authority on the apes. When she arrived in Borneo, Galdikas settled into a primitive bark and thatch hut, at a site she dubbed Camp Leakey, near the edge


title: Orangutan content: of the Java Sea. Despite numerous hardships, she remained there for over 30 years and became an outspoken advocate for orangutans and the preservation of their rainforest habitat, which is rapidly being devastated by loggers, palm oil plantations, gold miners, and unnatural forest fires. Galdikas's conservation efforts have extended well beyond advocacy, largely focusing on rehabilitation of the many orphaned orangutans turned over to her for care. Galdikas is considered to be one of Leakey's Angels, along with Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. According to the World Wildlife Fund, half of the habitat of the Bornean orangutan has been lost


title: Orangutan content: since 1994. A persistent folktale on Sumatra and Borneo and in popular culture, is that male orangutans display sexual attraction to human women, and may even forcibly copulate with them. The only serious, but anecdotal, report of such an incident taking place, is primatologist Birutė Galdikas' report that her cook was sexually assaulted by a male orangutan. This orangutan, though, was raised in captivity and may have suffered from a skewed species identity, and forced copulation is a standard mating strategy for low-ranking male orangutans. A female orangutan was rescued from a village brothel in Kareng Pangi village, Central Kalimantan,


title: Orangutan content: in 2003. The orangutan was shaved and chained for sexual purposes. Since being freed, the orangutan, named Pony, has been living with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. She has been re-socialised to live with other orangutans. In December 2014, Argentina became the first country to recognize a non-human primate as having legal rights when it ruled that an orangutan named Sandra at the Buenos Aires Zoo must be moved to a sanctuary in Brazil in order to provide her "partial or controlled freedom". Although animal rights groups interpreted the ruling as applicable to all species in captivity, legal specialists considered


title: Orangutan content: the ruling only applicable to hominid apes due to their genetic similarities to humans. The Sumatran and Bornean species are both critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List of mammals, and both are listed on Appendix I of CITES. The IUCN estimated in 2016 that around 100,000 orangutans survive in the wild (in 1973 there were 288,500), and their population is expected to further decrease to as few as 47,000 individuals by 2025. The Bornean orangutan population declined by 60% in the past 60 years and is projected to decline by 82% over 75 years. Its range has become


title: Orangutan content: patchy throughout Borneo, being largely extirpated from various parts of the island, including the southeast. The largest remaining population is found in the forest around the Sabangau River, but this environment is at risk. Sumatran orangutan populations declined by 80% in 75 years. This species is now found only in the northern part of Sumatra, with most of the population inhabiting the Leuser Ecosystem. In late March 2012, a once-significant population in northern Sumatra were reported to be threatened with approaching forest fires and might be wiped out entirely within a matter of weeks. Estimates between 2000 and 2003 found


title: Orangutan content: 7,300 Sumatran orangutans and between 45,000 and 69,000 Bornean orangutans remain in the wild. A 2007 study by the Government of Indonesia noted a total wild population of 61,234 orangutans, 54,567 of which were found on the island of Borneo in 2004. The table below shows a breakdown of the species and subspecies and their estimated populations from this, or (in the case of "P. tapanuliensis") a more recent, report: The diet of the species is also unique. During the early 2000s, orangutan habitat has decreased rapidly due to logging and forest fires, as well as fragmentation by roads. A


title: Orangutan content: major factor in that period of time has been the conversion of vast areas of tropical forest to palm oil plantations in response to international demand. Palm oil is used for cooking, cosmetics, mechanics, and biodiesel. Hunting is also a major problem as is the illegal pet trade. Orangutans may be killed for the bushmeat trade, crop protection, or for use for traditional medicine. Orangutan bones are secretly traded in souvenir shops in several cities in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Mother orangutans are killed so their infants can be sold as pets, and many of these infants die without the help of


title: Orangutan content: their mother. Since 2004, several pet orangutans were confiscated by local authorities and sent to rehabilitation centres. In May 2017, A group of activists of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) rescued an albino organgutan from captivity. The rare primate was being held captive in a remote village in Kapuas Hulu, on the island of Kalimantan in the Indonesian Borneo. According to volunteers at BOSF, albino orangutans are extremely rare – 1 out of 10,000 individuals. This is the first albino orangutan the organisation has seen in 25 years of activity. In November 2017, researchers found genomic evidence for a


title: Orangutan content: new species of orangutan named, "Pongo tapanuliensis", found only in the Batang Toru forest of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is estimated that fewer than 800 individuals still exist, which puts the Tapanuli orangutan among the most endangered of great apes. A number of organisations are working for the rescue, rehabilitation and reintroduction of orangutans. The largest of these is the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, founded by conservationist Willie Smits. It is audited by a multinational auditor company and operates a number of large projects, such as the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Program founded by conservationist Lone Drøscher Nielsen. Other major conservation centres