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control systems

(Encyclopedia)control systems, combinations of components (electrical, mechanical, thermal, or hydraulic) that act together to maintain actual system performance close to a desired set of performance specifications...

exoplanet

(Encyclopedia)exoplanet or extrasolar planet, a planet located outside the solar system. See planet; planetary system. ...

standpipe

(Encyclopedia)standpipe, tank or pipe for holding water in an elevated position to create pressure in a water supply system. For a tall building, where the pressure from the mains at street level is insufficient to...

stimulant

(Encyclopedia)stimulant, any substance that causes an increase in activity in various parts of the nervous system or directly increases muscle activity. Cerebral, or psychic, stimulants act on the central nervous s...

anatomy

(Encyclopedia)anatomy ənătˈəmē [key], branch of biology concerned with the study of body structure of various organisms, including humans. Comparative anatomy is concerned with the structural differences of pl...

Strategic Defense Initiative

(Encyclopedia)Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), former U.S. government program responsible for research and development of a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles (se...

rapid transit

(Encyclopedia)rapid transit, transportation system designed to allow passenger travel within or throughout an urban area, usually employing surface, elevated, or underground railway systems or some combination of t...

Fourcroy, Antoine François, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Fourcroy, Antoine François, comte de äNtwänˈ fräNswäˈ kôNt də fo͞orkrwäˈ [key], 1755–1809, French chemist. He was a pioneer in animal and plant chemistry and collaborated with Lavoisier ...

Hulse, Russell Alan

(Encyclopedia)Hulse, Russell Alan, 1950–, American astrophysicist, b., New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1975. Hulse was a researcher at the Princeton's plasma physics laboratory from 1977 unt...

Saimaa

(Encyclopedia)Saimaa sīˈmä [key], lake system c.1,850 sq mi (4,790 sq km), occupying the heavily glaciated plateau of S central Finland. It comprises more than 120 connecting lakes; the large southern basin of t...