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Sedna

(Encyclopedia)Sedna, in astronomy, the most distant known large object in the solar system. With a highly eccentric elliptical orbit that ranges from an estimated 76 AU to 937 AU, Sedna also has an extremely long o...

Préval, René Garcia

(Encyclopedia)Préval, René Garcia rənāˈ gärsēäˈ prāvälˈ [key] 1943–2017, Haitian political leader, president (1996–2001; 2006–11) of Haiti. Préval's family went into exile (1963) during the Duval...

safety lamp

(Encyclopedia)safety lamp, oil lamp designed for safe use in mines and other places where flammable gases such as firedamp (see damp) may be present. Its invention (c.1816) is usually attributed to Sir Humphry Davy...

rosewood

(Encyclopedia)rosewood, popular name for the ornamental wood of several species of tropical trees, especially for the heartwood of certain leguminous trees of the genus Dalbergia of the family Leguminosae (pulse fa...

thallium

(Encyclopedia)thallium thălˈēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Tl; at. no. 81; interval in which at. wt. ranges 204.382–204.385; m.p. 303.5℃; b.p. about 1,457℃; sp. gr. 11.85 at 20℃; valence +...

norovirus

(Encyclopedia)norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...

Baade, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Baade, Walter välˈtər bäˈdə [key], 1893–1960, German-born American astronomer. From 1919 to 1931 he was on the staff of the Hamburg observatory; from 1931 to 1958, at the Mt. Wilson observator...

Ostade, Adriaen van

(Encyclopedia)Ostade, Adriaen van äˈdrēän vän ôˈstädə [key], 1610–85, Dutch genre painter, b. Haarlem. Trained in the studio of Frans Hals, he was strongly influenced by his fellow student Adriaen Brouwe...

wisent

(Encyclopedia)wisent vēˈsənt [key], name for the European bison, Bison bonasus. It is a close relative of the American bison, B. bison. Longer legged and less heavily built than its American cousin, the wisent m...

xylene

(Encyclopedia)xylene dīˌmĕthəlbĕnˈzēn [key], C6H4(CH3)2, colorless, oily, liquid aromatic hydrocarbon, used extensively as a solvent, obtained from coal tar, wood tar, and sometimes from petroleum. It is a m...