International Finance Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Universal Finance Management - Term Paper Example Forward agreements anyway can not change hands and are contracts between two gatherings. Winning financing costs in the individual markets majorly affect the expansion or diminishing of an agreements cost. For instance if the GBP/USD contract is discounted at CME, than an expansion in the loan fees winning in the British economy would build the agreement cost and those in the United States economy would diminish it. This is on the grounds that there is an immediate connection between the cost of estimation of a money and financing costs. On the off chance that for instance financing costs are decreased cash flexibly will increment in the economy. As indicated by the monetary laws of flexibly and request, an expanded gracefully would bring about lower costs. In this manner the prospects expected cost of cash would likewise diminish. Parity of exchange is without question the most significant factor that can influence the cost of a money. Equalization of exchange alludes to the distinction between what a nation imports and fares. Likewise called the current record balance, it must be counterbalanced if financial specialists continue putting resources into dollar commanded resources. On the off chance that a nation gives a financial plan with a shortage, it can just top off that deficiency by obtaining cash for the national or universal market. The administration should go through its cash stores to take care of global obligation and potentially print more cash to pay of national obligation; these will diminish the estimation of national money. The steadiness of the legislature is likewise an immense factor in deciding the expansion or decline of national cash esteem. This is on the grounds that a steady government sets up stable arrangements; this dependability lessens financial specialist hazard hence expanding cash esteem. These components impactsly affect Currency esteem. This is on the grounds that the hazard related with the cash is high in war and the danger of default; on outside installments likewise increment. If there should arise an occurrence of Natural calamities, the consumption of the nation increments on

You Might Want to Do Some Introspection

You should do some contemplation. For every one of the eight insights in the Howard Gardner list, consider your own degree of abilities and execution. For every knowledge, choose if you have a subject matter that utilizes the insight. For instance, maybe you are acceptable at music. Assuming this is the case, is music the premise of your livelihood? Understudies can likewise do this kind of reflection, and it can turn into a normal part of PBL lessons.Students can come to comprehend that they are more normally skilled in certain zones than in others, yet that they have some ability in the entirety of the eight regions distinguished by Howard Gardner. Educational program and guidance can be created to enable all understudies to gain ground in upgrading their gifts in every one of these eight territories of insight. Robert Sternberg Many educators have given tribute proof that PBL supports cooperation with respect to their understudies who don't have an elevated level of â€Å"school smarts. They report that a portion of their understudies who were not doing admirably in school have become effectively drawn in and encountered a significant level of achievement in taking a shot at ventures. These perceptions are predictable with and strong of the exploration of Robert Sternberg. As noted before in this section, various scientists have recognized various segments of knowledge. Sternberg (1988, 1997) centers around only three primary parts: Practical intelligenceâ€the capacity to do well in casual and formal instructive settings; adjusting to and molding one's condition; road smarts.Experiential intelligenceâ€the capacity to manage novel circumstances; the capacity to viably computerize methods of managing novel circumstances so they are handily taken care of later on; the capacity to think in novel ways. Componential intelligenceâ€the capacity to process data adequately. This incorporates metacognitive, official, execution, and information procurement par ts that help to direct subjective procedures. Sternberg gives instances of individuals who are very capable in one of these zones yet not all that capable in the other two.In that sense, his way to deal with the field of insight is to some degree as gardner Howard. Be that as it may, you can see that Sternberg doesn't concentrate on explicit segments of insight that are lined up with different scholastic controls. He is unquestionably increasingly worried about helping individuals create segments of knowledge that will assist them with performing great in whatever they decided to do. Sternberg firmly accepts that knowledge can be expanded by study and practice. A considerable amount of his examination centers around such undertakings. A portion of Sternberg's work centers explicitly around â€Å"street smarts† versus â€Å"school smarts. He takes note of that a few people are especially gifted in one of these two zones, and not in the other. This perception is steady with cr afted by Lev Vygotsky (Fosnot, 1996) who contends that the kind of discovering that goes on outside of school is unmistakably not the same as the sort of discovering that goes on in school. While a few understudies are capable in both casual and formal training, others are significantly more fruitful in one as opposed to the next. An instructor who is handy in creating PBL can assist understudies with designing activities that are predictable with their learning capacities and interests.David Perkins In his 1992 book, Smart Schools, David Perkins breaks down various distinctive instructive speculations and ways to deal with training. His examination is emphatically strong of Gardner's hypothesis of various insights. Perkins' book contains broad research-based proof that instruction can be extensively improved by progressively express and proper educating for move, concentrating on higher-request intellectual abilities, and the utilization of undertaking based learning. Perkins (1995 ) looks at countless research examines both on the estimation of IQ and of projects of study intended to expand IQ.He presents point by point contentions that IQ has three significant segments or measurements. Neural knowledge. This alludes to the effectiveness and exactness of one's neurological framework. Experiential insight. This alludes to one's amassed information and involvement with various zones. It very well may be thought of as the collection of the entirety of one's skills. Intelligent insight. This alludes to one's wide based techniques for tackling issues, for learning, and for moving toward mentally testing errands. It incorporates perspectives that help constancy, systemization, and imagination.It incorporates self-checking and self-administration. There is significant proof to help the conviction that a youngster's neural knowledge can be unfavorably influenced by the mother's utilization of medications, for example, liquor and cocaine during pregnancy. Lead, (for e xample, from toxic paint) can harm an individual. Nutrients, or the scarcity in that department, can influence neural insight. Also, there is general understanding that neural knowledge has a â€Å"use it or lose it† trademark. Unmistakably neural knowledge can be kept up and, for sure, expanded, by use.

10+ Special Browsers For Visually Impaired Users

10+ Special Browsers For Visually Impaired Users Make Money Online Queries? Struggling To Get Traffic To Your Blog? Sign Up On (HBB) Forum Now!10+ Special Browsers For Visually Impaired UsersUpdated On 06/04/2019Author : Pradeep KumarTopic : Web ToolsShort URL : http://hbb.me/2oze4oS CONNECT WITH HBB ON SOCIAL MEDIA Follow @HellBoundBlogVisual impairment (or vision impairment) is vision loss (of a person) to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery. [via Wikipedia].Some browsers have been developed especially for people with such disabilities. Features include optical character recognition, screen magnifier, screen readers, voice recognition, speech synthesisers, etc. Below I mentioned top 10 web browsers for visually impaired users.P.S. Description of each site taken from respecti ve sites. Credit goes to them!#1 MozBrailleMozBraille is a browser but an extension to transform Mozilla or Firefox to a stand alone accessible Internet browser designed for blind or partially sighted users. So with mozBraille you dont need a third part program like a screenreader. MozBraille offers its users three displays or outputs : A Braille output on a braille terminal, a text to speech output, and a big characters view.MozBraille is a part of the VICKIE project. The main goal of this project is to create an electronic school bag for visually impaired children. So the main output is the Braille and the less important is the text to speech because students have to listen their teacher.Note: MozBraille is a beta version, so there are lot of features to add. At the moment, blind or a partially sighted users cant use this software alone.#2 pwWebSpeakpwWebSpeakpwWebSpeak is an Internet browser designed for users who wish to access the Internet in a non-visual or combined auditory a nd visual way. This includes blind or partially sighted users, people with dyslexia or learning difficulties, and users who are learning new languages.pwWebSpeak is designed to interact directly with the information on a web page, and to translate it into speech, as well as providing a magnified visual display. The user may navigate through the structure of a document based on its contents: links, headings and paragraphs, rather than having to deal with scrolling and interpreting a complex screen lay-out. The basic format used on the Web is called HTML. The intelligence built into pwWebSpeak understands the HTML constructs and automatically presents them in a logical sequence, greatly simplifying navigation of even complex documents.#3 EMACSPEAKEmacspeakEmacspeak is a speech interface that allows visually impaired users to interact independently and efficiently with the computer. Audio formatting a technique pioneered by AsTeR and full support for W3Cs Aural CSS (ACSS) allows Emacsp eak to produce rich aural presentations of electronic information.By seamlessly blending all aspects of the Internet such as Web-surfing and messaging, Emacspeak speech-enables local and remote information via a consistent and well-integrated user interface. When combined with Linux running on low-cost PC hardware, Emacspeak/Linux provides a reliable, stable speech-friendly solution that opens up the Internet to visually impaired users around the world.#4 eGuideDogeGuideDogeGuideDog project is to write free software for the blind. Currently, they focus on WebSpeech, Ekho TTS and WebAnywhere. eGuideDog Browser is a voice web browser designed for the blind. It focus on how to present HTML in speech rather than in text. Its written in Perl and supports eSpeak TTS engine.Some techniques such as re-constructing the HTML structure, summarizing the content and filtering Ads, etc will be used. Some accessibility problem is taken into account (see Accessibility for more detail).#5 Simply Web 2000Simply Web 2000Simply Web 2000 is an speech friendly, speech enabled accessible web browser with advance features that allow easy navigation of complex pages by blind users. It uses Internet Explorer 4.01 or later as its engine. We recommend installing Explorer 5.0 for optimal performance and flexibility.The Simply Web 2000 package includes a software based speech synthesizer and can be used in standalone mode as a Talking Web Browser. It you already have a screen reader installed in your computer, then you can take advantage of the fact that it has been design to be speech friendly. Particularly, it is fully compatible with Simply Talker 98/2000, our inexpensive screen reader also with built-in software synthesis.#6 WebbIEWebbIEWebbIE is a web browser for blind and visually-impaired people, especially those using screen readers, used since 2001 all over the world.READ20+ Awesome Unique Uses Of Google Reader You Probably Didn't KnowIt comes with the Accessible programs, lettin g you access news and audio on the Internet in a simple and accessible way, allowing you to use podcasts, listen to the radio and read RSS and news with your screen reader or other access solution. Together they provide a way to access websites and other great things online and they are all free!#7 EIAEIAEIA (Enhancing Internet Access) A specialized Web Browser, suitable for touchscreen systems, with fully integrated Web awareness, assessment and training modules. Designed for Internet training and access for people with disabilities and other special needs.Provides interactive, stepwise learning of the skills needed for Web browsing. The interactive Web Tutorial is integrated into the EIA Web Browser and leads on naturally from the Awareness Assessment Protocol. It finishes with the option to connect to the World Wide Web.#8 netECHO InternetSpeechNetechonetECHO ® by InternetSpeech lets people unleash the power of the Internet simply with the sound of their voice. netECHO ® lets users give simple voice commands like “Yahoo,” or “e-mail” to get the Net-based information they want.netECHO is a voice input and voice output web browser designed for use by individuals who are blind or have low vision. Using voice commands over a telephone line, the user gets access to a voice portal with customized information, such as stocks, news, horoscopes, restaurants, and directions. Starting from there, access to the entire Internet is provided.#9 PnC NetPnC NetPnC Net is software that provides people with low vision the same power to use the Internet that fully sighted people have. You can easily read the daily newspaper, get up-to-minute stock quotes, make travel reservations, purchase goods, get information on almost any topic, and participate fully in the World Wide Web!For example, Internet Explorer ® controls for accessing the Internet (shown below) require good vision to see the menu selections and good eye-hand coordination to position the pointer in 2-dim ensions on specific spots and click the mouse button. Internet Explorer’s web page presentation doesn’t speak, and a portion of the screen is taken by the controls at the top, leaving only a part of the screen to display the web page.#10 QualiSURFQualiSURFQualiSURF is the Internet Browser of the software platform QualiWORLD that gives the access to Internet to all physically disabled people. QualiSURF is an easy-to-use and user friendly Internet Browser, which enables the user to surf the Internet without the use of a mouse and a keyboard.The user has the freedom to choose any computer accessibility solutions offered by QualiWORLD in order to find the easiest way to surf the net. Users with any type and degree of disability can now surf Internet freely, even totally paralyzed or blind people.#11 ReadTextReadTextReadText and ReadText Plus are voice output text reader and web browser program designed for use by individuals who are blind or have low vision or reading disabilities. It speaks digital files and web pages, including on-line books and PDF files. It can also magnify text and change the type face and color of the text.For people with dyslexia and other reading challenges, the program highlights and associates the visual and verbal word together for future recognition. ReadText comes with ATT Natural Voices and one year of free updates.#12 WYNN Wizard and WYNN ReaderWYNNWYNN Wizard and WYNN Reader are voice output, web browser, and text editor programs intended to help individuals with learning disabilities to read, write, study, and comprehend text more effectively.WYNN can read aloud ASCII text files, standard word processing files, digital talking books (DAISY and NIMAS), PDF files, web pages, and e-mail using RealSpeak Solo, which offers multiple voices and languages.Visually impaired people often find it difficult to use the web and these kind of special browsers are really helpful to them. If you are willing to contribute, share and tweet this article!Do you know any other special web browsers for Visually Impaired people? Please share them in the comments.

Should The Leisure Centre Accessible For Children With...

When investigating an issue in the sporting industry, I came up with some ideas on what my topic could be. This included the main topics of ‘People with a disability’ and the sport of Swimming. I then defined the topic and decided to look into whether the leisure centre located in New South Wales is suitable for people with disabilities and how it is able to benefit them. By conducting this investigation I will be able to look into the benefits of using the main pool, children’s pool, spa and the sauna and steam room. I will also be able to look at how the facility helps children with disabilities interact and bond with others, and I will also look into some of the negatives of the leisure centre located in Sydney. The Aquatic Centre, found in Sydney has a wide range of facilities which offer hours of enjoyment for each member of the family. The leisure pools in the Aquatic centre are great ways to keep children with disabilities entertained. Water slides, river rapid ride, water volcanoes, spray jets, bubble beach and a toddler’s pool are all things included in the leisure pools. By having all this equipment, the leisure pools are able to cater for people with all sorts of disabilities ranging from intellectual to physical. The pools are also able to over more than just fun and enjoyment, they can assist children with their water safety, as the sooner they are in the water, the more comfortable they will feel and the more confident the family members will be when a childShow MoreRelatedPlay Worker Level 35061 Words   |  21 Pagessit; toddlers have to walk before they can run. It is also the case in other areas such as communication as, for example, a baby recognise words before produ cing them. While these sequences of development are typical in all children, what can change between individual children is the speed or rate at which they develop. This means some babies will sit unsupported at 7 months, while others may take a couple of months longer. It is also interesting. When looking at an individual child’s developmentRead MoreHk Disney16299 Words   |  66 Pagesproduct usage, purchase data, attitude data and attribute ratings. Due to time and budget constraints, a convenience sampling (non-probability) method was used for to gather the primary research. Only 30 respondents, near the proximity and who were accessible to the researchers were asked to answer the UAI survey. Given this, the respondents only came from the Philippines thus consumers from Hong Kong, Mainland China and other South East Asian countries were not surveyed by the researchers. Read MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesappropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use materialRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pages 2002, 1998 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material

Socioautobiography - 1571 Words

ï ¿ ½PAGE ï ¿ ½ A Slice of My Life Chamberlain College of Nursing SOCS 185 ï ¿ ½ A slice of My Life The older I grow the more everything begins to come together in relation to the type of person I am today, and how the choices my family and I have made have shaped and become the definition of this thing I call life. I have a pretty good idea about who I am as a person, but after all the discussions we hold in class, I was starting to become curious about the kind of person I am in the eyes of our society. C. Wright Mills philosophy will light the way for me in finding out how each of my social influences have effected me in either a positive or a negative way. In this assignment I will attempt to investigate the interconnections between my†¦show more content†¦What is a Cheerleader? A cheerleader is a confident, positive, and a helpful individual when it comes to community service. Being a cheerleader has taught me leadership qualities and that has not only helped me in the sport but also in school, work, and my self-esteem. They typical STEREOTYPE of a cheerleader is that they are mean, unfriendly, and stupid. When it came to my senior year I was given the name if Captain of the cheer team. I have set a level of BUREAUCRACY within the team and set rules and goals for the team to achieve and follow. At this time in my life I was help to a higher STATUS and given more responsibility. These girls started out as a SECONDARY GROUP when we first started out on the team together, but after years of being with one another everyday three hours a day- we quickly became like family. This transition from SECONDARY GROUP to a PRIMARY GROUP was the best thing to happen to me, I had a team of sisters. Our COALITION had a common goal, which was to bring excitement to our fans at footballs games, and bring championships home to our school at competitions. (TCO 4, 6, 8) During high school mostly everyone is in his or her ANTICIPATORY SOCIALIZATION process, we are taking this time to learn out foundations in order to be prepared for our future roles as college students. (TCO 4) Some of us will pursue engineering jobs, lawyers, doctors,Show MoreRelatedSociological Concepts Essay728 Words   |  3 PagesSOCS 185 Week 5 Socioautobiography Assignment Information and Rubric Below are guidelines to follow as you work on your socioautobiography assignment: * Papers should be in APA format, with a title page. * Papers should contain 3-4 pages of text, double-spaced (this does not include the title page). * Refer to at least six sociological concepts covered in the lectures or textbook reading. Highlight these concepts in boldface. * Connect your concepts to the TCOs. Indicate the

`` Jihad Vs. Mcworld `` - 1504 Words

â€Å" More than a hundred years ago, Marx had observed that the breaking of feudal bonds by modern capitalism had decisively fragmented traditional community† (162). Benjamin R. Barber, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy, has written several books with his disputations on this area. Barber published â€Å"Jihad vs. McWorld† in 1996 arguing that westernized capitalistic democratic countries, more specifically the United States, are culprits of citizen-less democracies, and annihilation of traditional cultural values through the use of Americanization. Through worldwide concepts, Barber successfully explains that true democracy, and nation states are being torn apart though the forces of McWorld and Jihad. McWorld is characterized by the capitalist consumerism that destroys spirits through international corporations, and Jihad; the ethnic fragmented traditional locals tha t are trying to preserve their society from the expanding commercial global economy. Barber claims that McWorld is breaking international boundaries through globalizing markets, while Jihad is being forced to separate themselves and create internal borders within nations. He extensively explains how McWorld’s culture, described as no culture at all, is brainwashing people of all nations from their traditionally different societies. Part I: The New World of McWorld The world of McWorld that Barber fears is aShow MoreRelated`` Jihad Vs. Mcworld, Political Scientist Benjamin Barber1090 Words   |  5 PagesIn his article, Jihad vs. McWorld, political scientist Benjamin Barber thoroughly examines a paradox that has been transforming our planet. This world is being torn apart by differing political views, social views, and racial inequality. These problems are pinning societies and cultures against each other. Barber refers to this growing split between cultures and the tensions that have risen as Jihad. At the same time, the world is being unified by economic and ecological forces that mesmerizeRead MoreThe Globalization of Animated Features and the Merging of Cultures1030 Words   |  5 Pagesits path, the world is becoming both homogenized and heterogenized. In March 1992, Benjamin Barber’s article Jihad vs. McWorld indicated his concerns on the very existence of democracy and the nation-states that are endangered. This is the result from what he describes as the two core forces of the current time: McWorld as globalism and Jihad as retribalization. In the other words, McWorld is an economic integration which is making countries get closer together to make one similar global networkRead MoreThe widespread image of American culture is seen to hold a strong base for globalisation. The1000 Words   |  4 Pageshave shaped a generation. This perspective is mainly aimed at the commercialisation of the planet. A supporter of this view, is the book, â€Å"Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World,† by author Benjamin Barber. Barber theorised the relationship of globalisation and culture, identified through the two majors McDonalds and Jihad. The title does go against the usual view of opposing the new ways of thinking and liberalism against the custom ways of regulation and monarchyRead MoreThe Inheritance Of Loss : East Vs. West1819 Words   |  8 PagesKiani-Maile Casillas World Civilization August 6, 2014 The Inheritance of Loss; East vs. West We have always known the world as four separate geographic regions, the North, South, East and West. The West has been significant in the ideas of America and Western Europe. All characterized by common clothes, language, culture, race, ethnicity and economics. But as time passes, the idea of â€Å"the West† begins to dissolve amongst other cultures and regions of the non-western world. Blending of cultures beginsRead MoreGlobalization and the Nation State Essay1633 Words   |  7 Pagesworried that the two emerging forces, McWorld and Jihad are threatening democratic values in the world. The reference made here to Jihad is based on a definition given by Benjamin Barber, he describes the struggle between the two forces. Jihad being a retribalization of large swaths of humankind by war and bloodshed: a threatened Lebanonization of national states in which culture is pitted against culture, people against people, tribe against tribe. McWorld struggles to unify and homogenize cu lturesRead MoreDevelopment And Proliferation Of The European Union2681 Words   |  11 Pagescommunication methods, thus enabling humanity to situate itself on the threshold of a unified grand society. Albeit internationalization can be rendered both in dichotomous terms, as well as by means of binary oppositions (traditional values vs. modern ones and globality vs. locality), it all amounts to a combination of opposing factors. Although national borders represent a form of stability, identity and protection for a country, they also have the capability to limit the cultural and economic evolutionRead MoreFinal Study Guide for Livanis Intl 1101 Essay3736 Words   |  15 Pages - Loss of biodiversity Jihad and McWorld - Dialectical nature: one cannot exist without the other - Babel: retribalization - Global jihad against globalization - Disneyland - Globalizations - Jihad and McWorld make war on the sovereign nation state - Indifference to civil liberty - McWorld, focus on consumption and â€Å"invisible hand† for common good (rather than democratic institutions), repeal government regulations - Jihad, bloody politics of identityRead MorePsci 140 Essay1016 Words   |  5 PagesInformation technology, exchanges of ideas†¦ Advantages? Global multiculturalism (nationalïÆ'   global) New values and identity International cosmopolitanism (â€Å"global village†) Disadvantages? Nationalism, fundamentalism†¦ Cultural homogenization†¦(jihad vs. â€Å"McWorld†) * Institutional, ideational, and individual explanations for political violence 2. You are supposed to be familiar with the main arguments of the following articles. Remember the main points of these readings. * DiamondRead MoreThe Impact of the Internet on Globalization Essay1276 Words   |  6 Pagesproducts and convenient shipping. Taking these factors into consideration, the Internet had a very large impact on globalization and will continue to shape the growing â€Å"global village† for years to come. Works Cited: Barber, Benjamin. Jihad Vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping The World. New York: Random House, 1995 Globalization and the Internetworked World. June 14, 2004 http://cct.georgetown.edu/curriculum/505-99/globalizationRead MoreA Critical Book Report on Lawrence Wrights the Looming Tower.3012 Words   |  13 Pageslie at the root of most conflict in the post-cold war world. Therefore, the West is despised by the Islamic world, not because of ideological, political or economic factors, but for cultural reasons. Wright also draws heavily from Barbers ‘Jihad vs. Mcworld theory, which argues that the widespread Western belief in the universality of its own values and political system, combined with the unstoppable force of globalization, antagonizes the Islamic civilization and spawns tribal forces of resistance

The Bermuda Triangle free essay sample

A discussion surrounding the mystery of the feared Bermuda Triangle. This paper presents a geographical explanation of the Bermuda Triangle. It then examines the history of this mystery and mentions several disasters or unexplained events that have happened in the skies and waters of this area. The paper also discusses the literature available on these mysteries and the form of documentation. The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the Caribbean believed to contain some mystery which causes ships and planes to disappear at a higher rate than in other regions of the globe. The idea of a Bermuda Triangle is of relatively recent origin, though researchers have identified many disappearances from the area dating back centuries. The greatest part of the mystery is the question of whether there is a mystery at all, for many scientists state that the rate of disappearances in the region is no any higher than in other similar areas and that there is no reason for the speculation about everything from satanic influences to extraterrestrials in the area. The Bermuda Triangle is located off the Southeastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean, with its apexes in the vicinities of Bermuda, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. It covers roughly 500,000 square miles. The area may have been named after its Bermuda apex since Bermuda was once known as the Isle of Devils. Treacherous reefs that have ensnared ships sailing too close to its shores surround Bermuda, and there are hundreds of shipwrecks in the waters that surround it. Over the past 100 years, the Bermuda Triangle has seen what some say is a significant and inordinately high number of unexplained disappearances of planes, ships and people. Some reports say that as many as 100 ships and planes have been reported missing in the area and more than 1,000 lives have been lost. The U. S. Coast Guard, however, maintains that the area does not have an unusual number of incidents. The mystery of the Triangle probably took hold with the first well-publicized disappearance in 1945, when five U. S Navy Avengers disappeared in the area. The cause of the disappearance was originally pilot error, but family members of the pilot leading the mission couldnt accept that he had made such a mistake. Eventually they convinced the Navy to change it to causes or reasons unknown. Many reports regarding the Bermuda Triangle include long lists of missing ships and planes. But many of those were nowhere near the Triangle when they disappeared or they turned up later with rational explanations for their disappearances. For example, the Mary Celeste, found floating in 1872 with not a person on board and everything exactly as they had left it, is on nearly every list of losses blamed on the Bermuda Triangle. But in reality, it was many hundreds of miles from the Triangle at the time. Here is a sampling of the some of the most notable incidents. As youll see, some of these have reasonable explanations although theyre still attributed to the strange and unknown powers of the Bermuda Triangle. The U. S. S. Cyclops, 1918 During World War I, the U. S. S. Cyclops served along the eastern coast of the United States until January 9, 1918. At that time, she was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. The Cyclops was scheduled to sail to Brazil to refuel British ships in the south Atlantic. She set out from Rio de Janeiro on February 16, and, after a brief stop in Barbados from March 3 to 4, was never seen or heard from again. All 306 passengers and crew were gone without a trace. A U. S. Navy Grumman TBF Avenger Image courtesy  U. S. Naval Historical Center U. S. Navy Avengers Flight 19, 1945 The most famous Bermuda Triangle story is the mystery surrounding five missing Navy Avengers in 1945. The story of Flight 19 is usually summarized this way: a routine patrol set out on a sunny day with five highly experienced student pilots. Suddenly, the tower began receiving transmissions from the flight leader that they were lost, compasses were not working, and everything looked wrong. They were never seen again, and extensive Navy investigations turned up no clues to explain the disappearance. Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor led the mission, which included several planned course changes. They departed at 1:15 p. m. on December 5, 1945. At 3:00 p. m. , Lieutenant Robert F. Cox was flying over Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he heard a signal that he thought was from a boat or plane in distress. He called Operations at the Naval Air Station to report what he had heard. Cox told Taylor to fly with the sun at his left wing and up the coast until he hit Miami. Taylor then said that they were over a small island with no other land in sight. If he was over the Keys as he had said, however, he should have seen several islands as well as the Florida peninsula. With less than two hours flying time until they ran out of fuel, Taylor described a large island to Operations. Assuming this was Andros Island, the largest in the Bahamas, Operations sent Taylor a heading that would take him to Fort Lauderdale. Apparently this heading was correct, because once Flight 19 assumed the new course, Taylors voice began coming in stronger over the radio. Taylor, however, didnt believe this course was right and after a few minutes said that they didnt go far enough east. Turn around again and go east. We should have a better chance of being picked up closer to shore. With this move, transmissions began to weaken as they flew out of radio range in the wrong direction. For unknown reasons, Taylor ignored the standard flying procedure of flying west if over water and east if over land. Two PBM-5 Mariner seaplanes went out to search the area, but one exploded soon after takeoff. The other never located Flight 19. Aliens and Atlantis As an area with one of the h ighest incidences of UFO sightings, its no wonder that alien abductions have been a popular explanation for disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. But abductions arent the only theory; some also have theorized that the Bermuda Triangle area is a portal to other planets. But why this area? Many believe that the Bermuda Triangle area is home to the lost city of Atlantis and remnants of its advanced technologies. Famous psychic Edgar Cayce said that Atlantis had many modern-day technologies, including a death ray weapon, which he claims ultimately destroyed the city. Some even say that the people who lived there were an alien race from the Pleiades star cluster. Cayce had predicted that researchers would discover the western edge of Atlantis near the coast of Bimini, in the Bahamas, and they did find a road of stones there in 1968. The initial researchers and archeologists who studied the site, known as the Bimini Road, immediately regarded it as naturally occurring. Recent investigations, however, have found evidence that appears to support the idea that the stones were shaped and placed there as a wall. The additional finding of a possible underwater city near Cuba adds fuel to the fire for those supporting the Atlantis idea. According to legend and speculation, the city of Atlantis relied on the power of special energy crystals that were extremely powerful. Cayce supported this idea, and the discovery of a great underwater pyramid and crystal by Dr. Ray Brown in 1970 reinforced it. Brown was scuba diving in the Bahamas when he claims to have found a large pyramid made of mirror-like stone. He entered the pyramid and saw a brassy metallic rod with a multi-faceted red gem hanging from the apex of the room. Directly below this rod was a stand with bronze hands holding a crystal sphere four inches in diameter. Brown removed the crystal and kept it secret until 1975, when he exhibited it at a psychic seminar in Phoenix, Arizona. He reported that when gazing into the crystal form, you can see three pyramidal images, one in front of the other with each decreasing in size. Some people have seen a fourth pyramid in front of the other three after entering into deep meditative states. Brown believes that the fractured lines seen when looking at the crystal sphere from the side may be electrical in nature, similar to a form of microscopic circuitry. The speculation is that these energy crystals are in an altered state of some kind and send out rays of energy that either confuse navigational instruments or disintegrate vehicles all together. Compass Malfunctions In almost every account of the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, youll see reference to the fact that it is one of only two places on Earth (the other being the Devils Sea off the coast of Japan) where a compass points to true north rather than magnetic north. Theorists say that this causes compasses to malfunction and ships and planes to get off-course. A  compass  works because its magnetic needle is attracted by the magnetism of the Earth, which draws it to point to the constantly shifting Magnetic North Pole. The Geographic North Pole, on the other hand, is static and is located about 1200 miles north of the Magnetic Pole. The variation between the two readings is known as  magnetic declination  (or compass variation), which can change by as much as 20 degrees as you move across the globe. The  agonic line  is an imaginary line where true north and magnetic north are in perfect alignment there is no magnetic declination. At points west of the agonic line, a magnetic needle will point east of true north (positive declination). At points east of the agonic line, a magnetic needle will point west of true north (negative declination). Extended lines that mark the constant magnetic declination away from the agonic line are called  isogonic lines. In the early 18th century, Edmund Halley noticed that the agonic line was slowly moving westward. Since then, scientists have noted a westward drift of the agonic line with an average velocity of about 0. 2 degrees per year. The drift is not equal in all places, however. It is stronger in the Atlantic Hemisphere than in the Pacific Hemisphere. Navigators must always compensate for magnetic declination when charting their courses. While the agonic line once passed through the Bermuda Triangle, it now falls within the Gulf of Mexico, rendering claims that it can contribute to disappearances in the Triangle inaccurate. Calculation errors anywhere could cause a plane or ship to go off-course. This theory also assumes that experienced pilots and captains passing through the area were unaware of magnetic declination, which is unlikely. Blue Holes Blue holes are water-filled caves and cavities with blue coloration. These caves may be simply a hole in the ground in the interior of islands (inland blue holes) or holes in shallow waters on the banks (marine or ocean blue holes). British scuba diver Rob Palmer directed a blue holes research center in the Bahamas for a number of years. In July 1997, he failed to surface after a dive in the Red Sea and was presumed dead. Some think that the blue holes may be related to (or even formed by) micro-wormholes believed to exist in the area and might even be transit points for UFOs arriving here from other dimensions. Plausible Theories Most rational explanations for the incidents in the Bermuda Triangle, including the explanations given by the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard, include human error and environmental effects. The area is one of the most highly trafficked for amateur pilots and sailors, so more traffic leads to more accidents and disappearances. Weather Patterns and Topography The area is subject to violent and unexpected storms and weather changes. These short but intense storms can build up quickly, dissipate quickly, and go undetected by satellite surveillance. Waterspouts  that could easily destroy a passing plane or ship are also not uncommon. A waterspout is simply a  tornado  at sea that pulls water from the ocean surface thousands of feet into the sky. Other possible environmental effects include underwater  earthquakes, as scientists have found a great deal of seismic activity in the area. Scientists have also spotted freak waves up to 100 feet high. The underwater topography of the area may also be a factor. It goes from a gently sloping continental shelf to an extremely deep drop-off. In fact, some of the deepest trenches in the world are found in the area of the Bermuda Triangle. Ships or planes that sink into these deep trenches will probably never be found. The Gulf Stream, where the Triangle is located, is extremely swift and turbulent. It can pose extreme navigational challenges, especially for inexperienced sailors. The Gulf Stream has been reported to move faster than 5 mph in some areas more than fast enough to throw sailors hundreds of miles off course if they dont compensate correctly for the current. It can also quickly erase any evidence of a disaster. Methane Gas Hydrates This theory appears to hold promise for at least some of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists at Cardiff University have discovered the presence of large concentrations of methane gas trapped in the ocean floor. This gas is due to dying and decomposing sea organisms. The sediment contains bacteria that produce methane, which accumulates as super concentrated methane ice, calledgas hydrates. The layer of ice traps the methane gas, and scientists are studying it as a potential energy source. Within seconds of a methane gas pocket rupturing, the gas surges up and erupts on the surface without warning. If a ship is in the area of the blowout, the water beneath it would suddenly become much less dense. The vessel could sink and sediment could quickly cover it as it settles onto the sea floor. Even planes flying overhead could catch  fire  during such a blowout. Although he doesnt agree with the methane hydrate theory as an explanation for the Bermuda Triangle, Bill Dillon, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey said that, On several occasions, oil drilling rigs have sunk as the result of [methane] gas escape. Pirates While historical pirates like Blackbeard or the fictional Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean may not be likely candidates for disappearances, modern pirates might be. In the 1970s and 80s, drug runners often pirated boats to smuggle drugs. This theory could also bear some truth during wartime. Check outHow Pirates Work  for more information about piracy and real-life pirates. Although these theories (among others) probably account for disappearances in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, many people still prefer to believe that aliens, electronic fog or another supernatural phenomenon must be the cause. As long as those theories exist, the Bermuda Triangle will remain a source of fascination and mystery.