Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans. In human history, its most dramatic rise was during the Age of Discovery when European explorers sailed and charted much of the rest of the world for a variety of reasons. Since then, major explorations after the Age of Discovery have occurred for reasons mostly aimed at information discovery.

In scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of empirical research (the other two being description and explanation). The term is commonly used metaphorically. For example, an individual may speak of exploring the Internet, sexuality, etc.

Notable periods of human exploration

Phoenician galley sailings

The Phoenicians (1550 BCE–300 BCE) traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor though many of their routes are still unknown today. The presence of tin in some Phoenician artifacts suggests that they may have traveled to Britain. Some scientists speculate that they voyaged all the way to Central America, although this is disputed. According to Virgil's Aeneid and other ancient sources, the legendary Queen Dido was a Phoenician from Asia Minor who sailed to North Africa and founded the city of Carthage.

Ocean

An ocean (from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός, transc. Okeanós, the sea of classical antiquity) is a body of saline water that composes much of a planet's hydrosphere. On Earth, an ocean is one of the major conventional divisions of the World Ocean, which covers almost 71% of its surface. These are, in descending order by area, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic Oceans. The word sea is often used interchangeably with "ocean" in American English but, strictly speaking, a sea is a body of saline water (generally a division of the world ocean) partly or fully enclosed by land.

Saline water covers approximately 72% of the planet's surface (~3.6×10⁸ km²) and is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas, with the ocean covering approximately 71% of Earth's surface. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water, and oceanographers have stated that less than 5% of the World Ocean has been explored. The total volume is approximately 1.35 billion cubic kilometers (320 million cu mi) with an average depth of nearly 3,700 meters (12,100 ft).

Little Tikes

Little Tikes is an American-based manufacturer of children's toys, with headquarters and manufacturing located in Hudson, Ohio. The company also has other manufacturing and distribution facilities in Asia and Europe. Little Tikes' products are mostly low-tech molded plastic toys aimed primarily at infants and young children, for indoor and outdoor use, including its party kitchen and turtle sandbox.

The company was established by Thomas G. Murdough Jr. in November 10, 1969 in Aurora, Ohio. The company was acquired by Rubbermaid in 1984. Murdough signed an employment agreement with Rubbermaid under which he would stay with the new parent company for a five-year period as president and general manager. In May 1989, Murdough announced that he would be leaving Little Tikes at the end of that year to pursue other interests. In 1991, Murdough established a new toy business called Step 2, now based in Streetsboro, Ohio, aimed at competing with and outselling Little Tikes. In 1999, Rubbermaid merged with Newell to form Newell Rubbermaid.

Office of Ocean Exploration

In the United States the Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) (now Office of Ocean Exploration and Research) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) run under the auspices of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).

OE facilitates ocean exploration by supporting expeditions, exploration projects, and related field campaigns. The focus of OE is very broad. They act as early explorers of area of the ocean that have not been seen. The goal is to bring information about the ocean that allows scientists to formulate questions that need to be answered about the ocean based on the preliminary information. In essence, OE acts as a scout or vanguard, much as Lewis and Clark did.

The mission of OE has four components:

Lego Technic

Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal LEGO.

The concept was introduced as the Expert Builder series and originally Technical Sets in 1977, and was renamed Technic in 1984.

Technic sets are often characterised by the presence of special pieces, such as gears, axles, pins, and beams. Some sets also come with pneumatic pieces or electric motors. In recent years, technic pieces have begun filtering down into other Lego sets as well, the power miners, and others, but mostly notably the BIONICLE sets (which were once sold as part of the Technic line), as well as a great many others.

The style of technic sets has been changing over time. Technic sets produced since the year 2000 use a different construction method, described as "studless construction" (Studs are the small circular knobs which appear on traditional Lego bricks). This method utilises beams and pins rather than technic bricks.