Is there Antarctica? There are seven Christian churches on the continent

And there, but mostly these are scientists and researchers. Although Antarctica has no government, it does have schools, sports competitions and even an annual rock concert.

1. Population about 4 thousand people

This is the population in the “summer” months from November to March, when the climate is not so harsh. In winter, many people leave. The vast majority of residents are scientists in the fields of geophysics, biology and natural history. The most populous place is McMurdo (US station). There is an ATM, a hospital, a chapel, road signs, a McMurdo department store and three bars. In addition, the continent is home to dozens of sparsely populated bases from other countries.

2. People live there even in winter

Some scientists stay here throughout the dark and freezing winter, when temperatures drop to -40°C. It is truly a period of complete darkness for several months, and can cause serious distress, so people going to work there first undergo thorough examinations. How are they coping? As in the ordinary world: yoga, language learning, library, gym and greenhouse care.

3. There are even Antarctic families

Whole families live in villages like Villa Las Estrellas (Chile) and Esperanza (Argentina). Villa Las Estrellas is a typical Chilean town with two hundred inhabitants. There is a cemetery, a hospital, a bank, a canteen, a gym and a school with ten students. And the settlement of Esperanza was distinguished by the fact that the first Antarctic baby was born there - Emilio Marcos Palma (1978).

4. There are entry-level jobs here.

You don't need to be a scientist to work and live in Antarctica. For example, Keri Nelson came to McMurdo in 2007 when she was 20 years old to work as a cleaner and then as a saleswoman. Entry-level jobs typically include cleaning restrooms, washing dishes, and delivering mail.

5. Antarctic relations are not uncommon

Keri Nelson, who lived in McMurdo, met her husband, who worked 3 km away at New Zealand's Scott Station. They set out from their bases into the Antarctic night on a date, meeting halfway to look at the stars and the moon. True, they got married already in Michigan. And this is not the only happy couple who found each other in Antarctica.

6. Parties with alcohol

Keri Nelson describes her experience as having a "campus atmosphere" because everyone sleeps in bunk beds in the dorms and eats in the cafeteria. In McMurdo, friends gather at the bar, go hiking, or watch movies. Alcohol is a danger in Antarctica, and isolation and depression can contribute to this. One year at 90 South, the beer and wine ran out too quickly as people tried to use them to pass the winter days.

7. The bottom of the world hosts an annual concert

Every New Year in Antarctica begins with IceStock, a 6-hour outdoor concert that has been an annual cultural event since 1990. All performing groups are “local” and amateur. McMurdo Bar also features frequent live music and hosts bi-weekly acoustic nights and women's music nights.

8. There are problems with the Internet

There is Internet, but it is limited. This is not so much an internet connection issue as the fact that access is primarily intended for scientific channels and important conversations. Even the use of Skype is strictly limited. Keri Nelson mentioned that it was difficult to use a smartphone there, and workers had to plan ahead to go online to check email.

9. Sports competitions are held here

Firstly, there is an annual rugby match called the Ross Island Cup. And if you like to run, the McMurdo Marathon is for you - a 40 km race through a deserted frosty landscape. The most extreme sporting competition is Club 300. Participants warm up in a sauna and then run naked, but with boots on, around the conditional point of the south pole.

10. The number of tourists is increasing

Over the past few decades, the number of tourists has been growing by leaps and bounds. About 38,500 visitors visited during the 2015-16 season. People coming to Antarctica want to see pristine nature, but still the carbon footprint of human civilization is dangerous for this fragile ecosystem. Additionally, potential travelers should be aware that vacationing in Antarctica is downright dangerous.

The least studied and most inhospitable continent on Earth is Antarctica. The population of the continent ranges from 1 to 4 thousand people. Read about the main features, history of development and inhabitants of the “ice” continent in our article.

Antarctica: general information about the continent and its resources

Almost everyone knows that this continent is the coldest on the planet. It was on its territory (at the Russian polar station “Vostok”) that the air temperature in the world was recorded - 89.2 degrees with a minus sign.

But few people know about other Antarctic records. Thus, the continent is also the driest, highest and windiest on Earth. Indeed, it was the lack of drinking water that was the main problem for everyone who decided to conquer the vastness of the continent called Antarctica. The population of the mainland also has its own characteristics. However, this will be discussed later.

It should be noted that Antarctica and its natural resources do not belong to any of the modern states in the world. Although in past centuries many empires tried to establish their control over one or another part of the continent. In 1991, the world community officially approved a special Protocol, one of the articles of which prohibits any economic activity on the territory of Antarctica (in particular, the development of its rich subsoil). True, the inhabitants of the planet are already very acutely aware of the shortage of many mineral resources. Therefore, it is unknown how long this protocol will remain in force.

Antarctica: population of the continent and its characteristics

Seals, arctic terns, skuas and emperor penguins are the most typical inhabitants of the cold continent. Before the beginning of the 19th century, geographers could have easily read out this list of animals when answering the question: “Who lives in Antarctica?” However, in 1820, everything changed dramatically: a person set foot on the continent for the first time.

Who lives in Antarctica today? And what is its total population?

It’s worth mentioning right away that Antarctica has no permanent population due to too extreme weather and climatic conditions. This means that the mainland is inhabited only by scientists, service personnel and tourists. They are all here temporarily.

How many people does Antarctica attract? The continent's population is about a thousand people in the winter. In summer its population can reach 4,000 people. On the mainland, the most popular languages ​​are English, French, Russian and Spanish.

In 1978, the first human child was born here. It was Argentinean citizen Emilio Marcos Palma. But in 2007, the first wedding ceremony in history took place in Antarctica.

History of the development of the mainland. Russian Antarctica

The history of Russian exploration of the mainland began back in 1819, when an expedition led by Lazarev and Bellingshausen set off from Kronstadt to the south. It was she who discovered the sixth continent for the world. The Russian Empire showed great interest in Antarctica at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, organizing several serious scientific expeditions.

In 1946, as some historians suggest, a serious military battle for Antarctica took place. After the end of World War II, the then allies - the USA and the USSR - sent powerful military squadrons to the shores of the continent. As a result, the American expedition returned far from being at full strength. However, the details of this Antarctic battle are still shrouded in a lot of mystery and speculation.

Russian Antarctic stations

Today, 30 countries have their own scientific stations in Antarctica. Among them is Russia, which has seven such bases on the mainland. These are the stations “Vostok”, “Progress”, “Bellingshausen”, “Novolazarevskaya”, “Molodezhnaya”, “Mirny” and “Leningradskaya”. Each of them is interesting in its own way.

Thus, at the Vostok station in 1983, an absolute record for the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded. This is one of the harshest (in terms of weather) places on our planet. Recently, the “Pole of Cold” was decorated with a monument to Lenin - the southernmost in the world.

At another Russian station, Bellingshausen, the first Orthodox church on the mainland was built in 2004. But “Novolazarevskaya” boasts the only Russian bathhouse on the entire continent!

But the main center of Russian Antarctica today is the Progress station. It performs research, administrative and logistics functions. An excellent sports complex for polar explorers was created here with a sauna, medical equipment and various exercise equipment.

2. The coldest place on Earth is a high ridge in Antarctica, where the temperature was recorded at -93.2 °C.

3. In some areas of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (the ice-free part of Antarctica) there has been no rain or snow for the last 2 million years.

5. In Antarctica there is a waterfall with water as red as blood, which is explained by the presence of iron, which oxidizes upon contact with air.

9. There are no polar bears in Antarctica (they are only in the Arctic), but there are many penguins.

12. Melting ice in Antarctica caused a slight change in gravity.

13. In Antarctica there is a Chilean town with a school, hospital, hotel, post office, Internet, TV and a network for mobile phones.

14. The Antarctic ice sheet has existed for at least 40 million years.

15. There are lakes in Antarctica that never freeze due to the heat emanating from the bowels of the Earth.

16. The highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was 14.5 °C.

17. Since 1994, the use of sled dogs has been prohibited on the continent.

18. Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on Earth.

19. Once upon a time (more than 40 million years ago) it was as hot in Antarctica as in California.

20. There are seven Christian churches on the continent.

21. Ants, whose colonies are distributed over almost the entire land surface of the planet, are absent from Antarctica (as well as from Iceland, Greenland and several remote islands).

22. The territory of Antarctica is larger than Australia by approximately 5.8 million square kilometers.

23. Most of Antarctica is covered with ice, approximately 1% of the land is free from ice cover.

24. In 1977, Argentina sent a pregnant woman to Antarctica so that the Argentine baby would become the first person born on this harsh continent.

1. The territory of Antarctica does not belong to anyone - not to any country in the world.

2. Antarctica is the southernmost continent.

3. The area of ​​Antarctica is 14 million 107 thousand square kilometers.

4. Antarctica has been depicted on maps since ancient times even before its official discovery. It was then called the “Unknown Southern Land” (or “Australis Incognita”).

5. The warmest time in Antarctica is February. This same month is the time for scientists to “change shifts” at research stations.

6. The area of ​​the continent of Antarctica is about 52 million km.

7. Antarctica is the second largest in area after Australia.

8. Antarctica has no government or official population.

9. Antarctica has a telephone code and its own flag. The outline of the continent of Antarctica itself is drawn on the blue background of the flag.

10. It is generally accepted that the first human scientist in Antarctica was the Norwegian Karsten Borchgrevink. But here historians disagree, because there is documentary evidence that Lazarev and Bellingshausen were the first to set foot on the continent of Antarctica with their expedition.

12. Antarctica has its own currency, valid only on the continent.

13. Antarctica officially recorded the lowest temperature in the world – 91.2°C below zero.

14. The maximum temperature above zero in Antarctica is 15°C.

15. The average temperature in summer is minus 30-50°C.

16. No more than 6 cm of precipitation falls per year.

17. Antarctica is the only continent uninhabitable.

18. In 1999, an iceberg the size of London broke off from the continent of Antarctica.

19. The mandatory diet for workers at research stations in Antarctica includes beer.

20. Since 1980, Antarctica has been accessible to tourists.

21. Antarctica is the driest continent on the planet. In one of its areas - the Dry Valley - there has been no rain for about two million years. Oddly enough, there is no ice at all in this area.

22. Antarctica is the only habitat on the planet for emperor penguins.

23. Antarctica is an ideal place for those who study meteorites. Meteorites falling on the continent were preserved in their original form thanks to the ice.

24. The continent of Antarctica does not have a time zone.

25. All time zones (and there are 24 of them) can be bypassed here in a few seconds.

26. The most common life form in Antarctica is the wingless midge BelgicaAntarctida. It is no more than one and a half centimeters long.

27. If the ice of Antarctica ever melts, the level of the world's oceans will rise by 60 meters.

28. In addition to the above, a global flood cannot be expected; the temperature on the continent will never rise above zero.

29. In Antarctica there are fish whose blood does not contain hemoglobin and red blood cells, so their blood is colorless. Moreover, the blood contains a special substance that allows it not to freeze even at the lowest temperatures.

30. No more than 4 thousand people live in Antarctica.

31. There are two active volcanoes on the continent.

32. In 1961, on April 29, in less than two hours, Leonid Rogozov, a doctor on the Soviet expedition to Antarctica, performed an operation on himself to remove appendicitis. The operation was successful.

33. Polar bears do not live here - this is a general misconception. It's too cold for bears here.

34.Only two types of plants grow here, flowering ones. True, they grow in the warmest zones of the mainland. These are: Antarctic meadow and Kolobantusquito.

35. The name of the continent comes from the ancient word “Arktikos”, which literally translates as “opposite the bear”. The continent received this name in honor of the constellation Ursa Major.

36. Antarctica has the most powerful winds and the highest levels of solar radiation.

37. The cleanest sea in the world is in Antarctica: the transparency of the water allows you to see objects at a depth of 80 meters.

38. The first person born on the continent is Emilio Marcos Palma, Argentinean. Born in 1978.

39. In winter, Antarctica doubles in area.

40. In 1999, doctor Jerry Nielsen had to self-administer chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The problem is that Antarctica is a deserted place and isolated from the outside world.

41. Oddly enough, there are rivers in Antarctica. The most famous is the Onyx River. It flows only during the summer – that’s two months. The length of the river is 40 kilometers. There are no fish in the river.

42. Bloody Falls - located in Taylor Valley. The water in the waterfall has a bloody hue due to the high iron content, which forms rust. The water in the waterfall never freezes because it is four times saltier than ordinary sea water.

43. Bones of herbivorous dinosaurs were found on the continent, which are already about 190 million years old. They lived there when the climate was warm, and Antarctica was part of the same continent, Gondwana.

44. If Antarctica were not covered with ice, the height of the continent would be only 410 meters.

45. The maximum ice thickness is 3800 meters.

46. ​​There are many subglacial lakes in Antarctica. The most famous of them is Lake Vostok. Its length is 250 kilometers, width is 50 kilometers.

47. Lake Vostok was hidden from humanity for 14,000,000 years.

48. Antarctica is the sixth and last discovered continent.

49. About 270 people have died since the discovery of Antarctica, including a cat named Chippy.

50. There are more than forty permanently operating scientific stations on the continent.

51. There are a huge number of abandoned places in Antarctica. The most famous is the camp founded by Robert Scott from Britain in 1911. Today, such camps have become a tourist attraction.

52. Wrecked ships were often found off the coast of Antarctica - mainly Spanish galleons of the 16th and 17th centuries.

53. In the area of ​​one of the regions of Antarctica (Wilkis Land) there is a giant crater from a meteorite fall (500 kilometers in diameter).

54. Antarctica is the highest continent on planet Earth.

55. If global warming continues, trees will grow in Antarctica.

56. Antarctica has huge reserves of natural resources.

57. The biggest danger for scientists on the continent is open fire. The dry atmosphere makes it very difficult to extinguish.

58. 90% of ice reserves are in Antarctica.

59. Above Antarctica, the largest ozone hole in the world is 27 million square meters. km.

60. 80 percent of the world's fresh water is concentrated in Antarctica.

61. Antarctica is home to a famous natural ice sculpture called the Frozen Wave.

62. No one lives in Antarctica permanently - only in shifts.

63. Antarctica is the only continent in the world where ants do not live.

64. The largest iceberg on the planet is located in the waters of Antarctica - it weighs approximately three billion tons, and its area exceeds the area of ​​the island of Jamaica.

65. Pyramids similar in size to the Pyramids of Giza have been discovered in Antarctica.

66. Antarctica is surrounded by legends about Hitler’s underground bases - after all, it was he who closely explored this area during the Second World War

67. The highest point of Antarctica is 5140 meters (Sentinel Ridge).

68. Only 2% of the earth “peeks out” from under the ice of Antarctica.

69. Due to the gravity of the Antarctic ice, the southern belt of the earth is deformed, which makes our planet oval.

70. Currently, seven countries of the world (Australia, New Zealand, Chile, France, Argentina, Great Britain and Norway) are trying to divide the territory of Antarctica among themselves.

71. The only two countries that have never claimed the territory of Antarctica are the USA and Russia.

72. Above Antarctica there is the clearest part of the sky, best suited for space exploration and observing the birth of new stars.

73. Every year in Antarctica, a hundred-kilometer ice marathon is held - a race in the area of ​​​​Mount Ellsworth.

74. Mining has been banned in Antarctica since 1991.

75. The word “Antarctica” is translated from Greek as “the opposite of the Arctic.”

76. A special breed of tick lives on the surface of Antarctica. This mite can secrete a substance similar in composition to car antifreeze.

77. The famous Hell's Gate Canyon is also located in Antarctica. The temperature there drops to 95 degrees, and the wind speed reaches 200 kilometers per hour - these are unsuitable conditions for humans.

78. Before the Ice Age, Antarctica had a hot, tropical climate.

79. Antarctica influences the climate of the entire planet.

80. The installation of military facilities and the installation of nuclear power plants is strictly prohibited on the continent.

81. Antarctica even has its own Internet domain - .aq (which stands for AQUA).

82. The first regular passenger plane arrived in Antarctica in 2007.

83. Antarctica is an international protected area.

84. The surface of the McMurdo Dry Valley in Antarctica and its climate are very similar to the surface of the planet Mars, so NASA occasionally conduct test launches of their space rockets here.

85. 4-10% of polar scientists in Antarctica are Russian.

86. A monument to Lenin was erected in Antarctica (1958).

87. New bacteria unknown to modern science were discovered in the ice of Antarctica.

88. Scientists at Antarctic bases live so friendly that as a result, many interethnic marriages have been concluded.

89. There is an assumption that Antarctica is the lost Atlantis. 12,000 years ago, the climate on this continent was hot, but after an asteroid hit the Earth, the axis shifted, and the continent along with it.

90. An Antarctic blue whale eats about 4 million shrimp in one day - that's about 3,600 kilograms.

91. There is a Russian Orthodox Church in Antarctica (on Waterloo Island). This is the Church of the Holy Trinity near the Arctic station of Bellingshausen.

92. Apart from penguins, there are no land animals in Antarctica.

93. In Antarctica you can observe such a phenomenon as pearlescent clouds. This happens when the temperature drops to 73 degrees Celsius below zero.

What are World Leaders Hiding About Antarctica?

The ban on visiting Antarctica for civilians has been extended for another 35 years, and all polar scientists have been replaced by specialized specialists from the special services.

At the same time, this continent is regularly visited by leaders of major powers, as well as leaders of religious denominations. A logical question arises: what did scientists find there and who are the world leaders meeting there?

Ten high-profile trips to Antarctica.

In the south of the globe there is a practically unexplored giant continent - Antarctica. Under the seemingly impenetrable, many-kilometer layer of ice, endless secrets are hidden that excite the minds of scientists.

So, even today no one can explain the Wilkes Land anomaly - an impact crater that is visible even from space. And of course, the mysteries of Antarctica attract numerous expeditions.

The loudest and most mysterious visits to Antarctica from 1939 to 2017:

Expansion of Antarctica: Operation New Swabia.

In 1939, the Third Reich sent an expedition to Antarctica. Yes, it's true: the Nazis did try to establish a base on the frozen continent. But no one knows for sure why this is so. It is unclear how Hitler intended to gain scientific or economic benefit from establishing a base in such a cold, lifeless, and resource-poor location.

However, the lack of evidence has not stopped the world from speculating further about the story. After the Nazi surrender in 1945, two German submarines arrived in Argentina with full crews. Although people may never know what their mission was before Hitler's collapse, many wondered what goals the German U-boats could have had in this part of the Southern Hemisphere other than visiting Antarctica.

Expansion of Antarctica: Operation Tabarin.

The Germans were not the only nation to become interested in the icy continent during World War II. In 1943, at the height of the war, the British government sent an expedition to Antarctica called Operation Tabarin.

Why surveillance of the whaling fleets in this region was considered so important as to justify sending a modern warship with a full complement of sailors to a region that was as far removed from the war zones as possible remains a mystery.

One can only speculate that the importance of a reinforced British presence in Antarctica may have been justified by rumors of a Nazi base on the frozen continent. All that scientists know for sure today is that the expedition survived two winters and was considered incredibly successful.

An unusual expedition to Antarctica: Operation Highjump.

In 1946, with the psychological horrors of World War II still fresh in the minds of the American people, a U.S. Navy expedition of 13 battleships and 33 aircraft was sent to Antarctica. Operation Highjump was led by Admiral Richard Byrd, already famous for his solo flights over the icy continent.

The official purpose of the mission was to train for work in permanent ice conditions and to establish a more stable American presence in Antarctica. This is not hard to believe given the hypothetical upcoming conflict with the Soviet Union, which was expected to involve a land battle in Siberian conditions.

However, in subsequent years there was no end to speculation that the real purpose of Operation Highjump was to eradicate the legendary Antarctic Nazi base. Also extremely controversial is the fact why the Americans returned home with such heavy losses.

Prince Harry's unusual journey to Antarctica.

Let's move on to modern times. In 2013, Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne, led an expedition to the South Pole. The purpose of this adventure in the eternal ice ended in fact with 12 wounded servicemen and women accompanying Harry on an event that was originally planned as a "recreational and competitive" trek across one of the continent's sections.

But upon arrival on the continent, the team decided that the terrain along the 320-kilometer route to the center of Antarctica was too difficult for competition, and they should just try to reach the pole “in high spirits.” Apart from the abandonment of the competitive aspect, there is nothing strange about this expedition. However, it sets a precedent for the permanent presence of high-ranking dignitaries in Antarctica.

An unusual journey to Antarctica by Patriarch Kirill.

In February 2016, the heads of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches met for the first time since the Great Schism, an event that split the church into east and west nearly 1,000 years ago. The historic meeting in Cuba between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis was seen by many as the beginning of a new era for Christianity, although no one could say why, in the last 1,000 years, the two most powerful men in Christendom decided to meet then.

Naturally, much speculation arose, especially when a few days after this historic meeting it was announced that Patriarch Kirill would join the crew of the Russian naval vessel Admiral Vladimirsky for a trip to the South Pole. This announcement became especially intriguing when it became known that the Admiral Vladimirsky made an unprecedented stop in the Saudi port of Jeddah on its way to Antarctica.

At the time, Russia and Saudi Arabia were bitter economic rivals in the oil market, so it was difficult to understand what a Russian ship might need in the port closest to Mecca. Patriarch Kirill's only stated reason for going to Antarctica is that he wanted to pray in a tiny Orthodox church that was erected on the icy continent several decades ago.

An unusual journey to Antarctica by Tom Hanks.

Russia's religious leader is not the only famous person to show interest in the remote Trinity Orthodox Church in recent years.

During his brief visit to Antarctica in February 2016, American actor Tom Hanks, who converted to Orthodoxy before marrying Rita Wilson, made a special visit to the tiny temple built of wood.

An unusual expedition to Antarctica by the New Zealand Minister of Defense.

Although New Zealand is not the closest country to Antarctica (Chile and Argentina can rival it in this regard), its government plays an important role in the events taking place in the land of ice and snow. In fact, the New Zealand Defense Force has a permanent presence in Antarctica, where they protect personnel at Scott Base and McMurdo Station (from whom, other than penguins, it is unclear).

In February 2017, Defense Minister Ron Mark made a regular visit to brave New Zealanders patrolling the icy wastes. He subsequently described his journey as having "opened his eyes to many things."

An unusual journey to Antarctica by former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

On November 8, 2016, elections were held in the United States, resulting in Donald Trump becoming president. But there is one US citizen who believed that there was something much more interesting in the world that day than the greatest electoral embarrassment in US history. He was America's highest-ranking diplomat at the time and became the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit Antarctica.

We are talking about former Secretary of State John Kerry. Instead of cheering on his favorite candidate, John Kerry spent Election Day in Antarctica. But why did Kerry just go on an extremely expensive taxpayer funded trip instead of being in the White House.

Nobody knows this. Michael Rubin of the conservative think tank AEI notes that, in addition to being wasteful, Kerry's trip to the South Pole also seems pointless because there are no other diplomats in Antarctica to negotiate.

An unusual journey to Antarctica by astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

One of the first people to set foot on the Moon also decided to visit the most deserted place on Earth. Buzz Aldrin went to the South Pole at the end of November 2016. Although 86-year-old Aldrin received special training and medical consultations before the expedition, he eventually became ill along the way (altitude sickness) and Aldrin had to be urgently evacuated to Christchurch, New Zealand.

But the whole story is riddled with questions from beginning to end: if the elderly Aldrin was prone to altitude sickness, why did doctors even allow him onto the Antarctic plateau, located at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level. Why NASA's second deputy director visited the South Pole a day before Aldrin and just weeks after John Kerry. There are many questions.

Map of Antarctica drawn in 1513 by Turkish admiral Piri Reis.

Perhaps the reason for all these strange, high-profile visits to Antarctica is hidden in the past. Thanks to the use of satellite imagery, the art of cartography has become almost infallible. But until the early 1900s, inaccuracies in cartography were commonplace.

However, there is one map from over 500 years ago that appears to show part of the Antarctic coastline in extreme detail. There is only one “but”: there is no ice on it. Drawn in 1513 by Turkish admiral Piri Reis, this unique map was discovered in 1929 before modern cartographic sketches of Antarctica were made.

Although Admiral Reis was certainly a great explorer, he admitted that he based his maps on older sources. In any case, only recently, thanks to the advent of seismic instruments and satellites, data on the complete coincidence of the map and the coastline of Antarctica, hidden under kilometers of ice, was confirmed.

Rumor has it that Obama also made a voyage to Antarctica and left there in sadness...

There is also a lot of information about the visit of Patriarch Kirill, mainly in the foreign press. In the comments under my video on YouTube (link to the video below) there are links to these materials.