Midwest High-Speed Rail essays

Midwest High-Speed Rail essays Where would America be without the train? The train and rail are as much a part of American heritage as the land itself. The train connected the east to the west. Trains ushered in the industrial revolution of the later 19th century. Trains not only ushered in industry, but also commerce America into the next century. The high-speed rail proposed to the Midwest will bring people in its cities closer together by the way of lowered cost and travel time. It will create jobs and help finance other important state programs with the revenue it creates. The beauty of the state will be preserved as it runs cleaner than other transits. When up and running theses trains will hopefully cut down the amount of travel on busy interstates which will further benefit our environment. Indiana should proudly be a part and share its weight of such an auspicious event. The question now is whether or not Indiana will help fund Amtrack's new train system. Under Amtrack's proposed plan, called the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MMRI), it has been projected that the total capital cost for their Midwest High-Speed Rail, is $3.5 billion. The proposed cost will be divided up by having the federal government contribute 80% of the capital cost, while then allowing the nine states to pick up the remaining 20%. With the nine states only having to pay 20% of a 3.5 billion dollar project cost how could any state pass up this chance. By the year 2010 the MMRI will be up and running and generate a projected total 471 million in revenue. The operation cost per year is only estimated at 347 million, which leaves each state with a nice 14 million to help finance new state project or older state project s that could never be worked into the budget before. Travel time is also a nice quality to the MMRI. What ever the travel time on other convectional forms of transportations will be cut down by at least 2 hours. A trip from Ch ...

Chalicotherium Facts and Figures

Chalicotherium Facts and Figures Name: Chalicotherium (Greek for pebble beast); pronounced CHA-lih-co-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of Eurasia Historical Epoch: Middle-Late Miocene (15-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About nine feet high at the shoulder and one ton Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Horse-like snout; clawed feet; longer front than hind legs About Chalicotherium Chalicotherium is a classic example of the bizarre megafauna of the Miocene epoch, about 15 million years ago: this gigantic mammal is virtually unclassifiable, having left no direct living descendants. We do know that Chalicotherium was a perissodactyl (that is, a browsing mammal possessing an odd number of toes on its feet), which would make it a distant relative of modern horses and tapirs, but it looked (and probably behaved) like no plus-sized mammal alive today. The most notable thing about Chalicotherium was its posture: its front legs were significantly longer than its hind legs, and some paleontologists believe that it brushed the knuckles of its front hands along the ground when it walked on all fours, a bit like a modern gorilla. Unlike todays perissodactyls, Chalicotherium had claws instead of hooves, which it probably used to rope in vegetation from tall trees (a bit like another prehistoric mammal it vaguely resembled, the giant sloth Megalonyx, which lived a few million years later). Another odd thing about Chalicotherium is its name, Greek for pebble beast. Why would a mammal that weighed at least a ton be named after a pebble, rather than a boulder? Simple: the chalico part of its moniker refers to this beasts pebble-like molars, which it used to grind down the soft vegetation of its Eurasian habitat. (Since Chalicotherium shed its front teeth during adulthood, leaving it bereft of incisors and canines, this megafauna mammal was clearly unsuited to eating anything except fruits and tender leaves.) Did Chalicotherium have any natural predators? Thats a tough question to answer; clearly, a full-grown adult would have virtually impossible for a single mammal to kill and eat, but sick, aged and juvenile individuals may have been preyed on by contemporary bear dogs like Amphicyon, especially if this distant canine ancestor had the ability to hunt in packs!