Word: exaction
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...launched the first GPS satellite in 1978 and completed the system in 1995. GPS uses a "constellation" of 24 satellites orbiting 12,000 miles high, each circling the globe every 12 hours. The 2,000-lb satellites broadcast radio signals to Earth with information about their location and the exact time the signal was transmitted (each satellite carries an atomic clock). By calculating the difference between radio signals received from four or more satellites, GPS receivers on the ground can determine their own location, speed and elevation with great accuracy - usually within a few meters or even less. Satellites...
...exact origins of Memorial Day are disputed, with at least five towns claiming to have given birth to the holiday sometime near the end of the Civil War. Yale University historian David Blight places the first Memorial Day in April 1865, when a group of former slaves gathered at a Charleston, S.C., horse track turned Confederate prison where more than 250 Union soldiers had died. Digging up the soldiers' mass grave, they interred the bodies in individual graves, built a 100-yd. fence around them and erected an archway over the entrance bearing the words "Martyrs of the Race Course...
...monkeys could communicate, they might have something to say about the lopsided number of screenplays predicated on the antics of miscreant simians.) Even worse, Ahkmenrah has a brother, the crazily dressed, maniacally lisping Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who, less loved by his parents, intends to use the tablet to exact his revenge and rule the world. If Larry doesn't do something, it's not just his exhibitionist friends who are stuffed. (See TIME's summer entertainment preview...
...dump grand crus of all stripes down the drain. The problem is accentuated in sparkling wines like Champagne, whose bubbles only serve to volatilize the taint, making it all the more noticeable. Various studies suggest TCA affects anywhere from 1% to 7% of wines, but for Liem, arguing the exact percentage misses the point. "We are talking about a rate of failure - this renders wine undrinkable," he says. "What if 2% of all cars wouldn't start, or 2% of CDs wouldn't play? This just wouldn't be acceptable in other industries." (See pictures of whiskey-making...
...rise in violence is also a quandary for Iraq's neighbors, which play reluctant host to the refugees. The exact number of refugees is hard to gauge, but the Iraqi government estimates there are 2 million. The majority of them live in Syria and Jordan, which are struggling with weak economies and mounting joblessness among their own populations. Government officials in Damascus and Amman have been counting on the improving security environment in Iraq to persuade many refugees to go home. Aid workers in both countries say many refugees are being pressured to leave. (See pictures of the recent revival...