Welcome to Citizendium

The global Write-a-Thon is on! Join us today, Wednesday, August 6th! You're invited to start a new article when it's Wednesday in your part of the world, and edit somebody else's new article. You're especially invited to edit the Collaboration of the Day: Sports. It's a Write-a-Thon! It's a wiki-whoopie, a cyber-social, a collaborative kegger! Are you new? This is a good day to get a Quick Start!

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A new wiki encyclopedia project—and more! We aim at reliability and quality, not just quantity. We welcome collaboration with everyone who has knowledge, broad or narrow, about any of the world's innumerable subjects. We write under our real names—and are both collegial and congenial. We now have [[:Category:CZ Live|Template:Articles number+ articles]] and are gathering speed. Eduzendium participants write for academic credit. Collaboration of the Day: Sports Write for the Citizendium—knowledge is fun! Sign up—we need both authors and editors (you might be both!) Then, get a quick start. Remember, we are an open, young project—it's easy to get involved! Learn about us Why Citizendium? For readers: About | FAQ For contributors: Authors | Editors | How to collaborate For the press Important new community pages WatchKnow will be a free, non-profit, K-12 educational video contest, currently under planning and development. Myths and Facts: we might be different than you think! We are organizing Workgroup Weeks--our biggest initiative yet. Citizens, get involved, and watch our numbers multiply! Support us Our mission is educational, non-profit, global, and free. Shop at our Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble links and we'll get donations at no cost to you. Link to us so search engines can better find us.   (CC) Photo: Tanya Puntti Each sentence you add is another drop in an expanding sea of words.

Some of our finest [ about ] Approved Articles Developed Articles (over 800) "Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality." — Life's Little Instruction Book by Jackson Brown and H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Article of the Week [ about ] Three-dimensional model of the structure of part of a DNA double helix. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a very large biological molecule that is vital in providing information for the development and reproduction of living things. Every living organism has its own DNA sequence that is like a unique 'barcode' or 'fingerprint'. This inheritable variation in DNA is the most important factor driving evolutionary change over many generations. But, beyond these general characteristics, what "exactly" is DNA? What are the precise physical attributes of this molecule that make its role so centrally imposing in understanding life? DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, held together by a sugar phosphate backbone. Attached to each sugar molecule is a molecule of one of four bases; adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) or cytosine (C), and the order of these bases on the DNA strand encodes information. In most organisms, DNA is a double-helix (or duplex molecule) consisting of two DNA strands coiled around each other, and held together by hydrogen bonds between bases. Because of the chemical nature of these bases, adenine always pairs with thymine and guanine always pairs with cytosine. This complementarity forms the basis of semi-conservative DNA replication — it makes it possible for DNA to be copied relatively simply, while accurately preserving its information content. [more...] New Draft of the Week [ about ] The Battle of Gettysburg, which took place July 1-3, 1863, on the outskirts of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the turning point in the American Civil War, and, combined with the simultaneous loss of the Mississippi River in the west, foreshadowed Confederate exhaustion and ultimate defeat. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia on a raid into Pennsylvania designed to capture supplies and destroy the political will of the Union to continue the war. He unexpectedly encountered the main Union army under General George Meade. In an intensely fought three-day battle, Lee had advantages on the first two days but lost badly on the third. He was, at that point, trapped but Meade's dilatory pursuit allowed Lee to escape. The battle became a metaphor for the entire war, and a central icon of courage on both sides. It was used by President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address to mark the birth of a new nation dedicated to equality and democracy. [more...]