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carbon cycle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Carbon cycle carbon cycle, in biology, the exchange of carbon between living organisms and the nonliving environment. Inorganic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is converted by plants into sim...

Langmuir, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Langmuir, Irving lăngˈmyo͞or [key], 1881–1957, American chemist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Associated (1909–50) with the research laboratory of the General Electric Company, he introduced atomic-hydrog...

Consumer Affairs, Office of

(Encyclopedia)Consumer Affairs, Office of, agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established 1971. The office advises and represents the president on matters of consumer interest, and analyzes and coordinates ...

Radio Free Europe

(Encyclopedia)Radio Free Europe (RFE), broadcasting organization established in 1950 with the stated mission of promoting democratic values and institutions. Its original purpose was to broadcast news to countries ...

foster care

(Encyclopedia)foster care, generally, care of children on a full-time, temporary basis by persons other than their own parents. Also known as boarding-home care, foster care is intended to offer a supportive family...

Snowden, Edward Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Snowden, Edward Joseph, 1983–, American computer systems administrator and antigovernment activist, b. Elizabeth City, N.C. Snowden worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from 2007 and then (200...

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

(Encyclopedia)Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), former U.S. government agency established (1933) in the Dept. of Agriculture under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 as part of Franklin Delano Roos...

Reich, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Reich, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm rīkh [key], 1897–1957, Austrian psychiatrist and biophysicist. For many years a chief associate at Freud's Psychoanalytic Polyclinic in Vienna, he later broke with Freud ...

infrared astronomy

(Encyclopedia)infrared astronomy, study of celestial objects by means of the infrared radiation they emit, in the wavelength range from about 1 micrometer to about 1 millimeter. All objects, from trees and building...

Kansas State University

(Encyclopedia)Kansas State University, main campus at Manhattan; coeducational; land-grant and state supported; chartered and opened 1863. There is an additional campus at Salina. Among the university's research fa...