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smog

(Encyclopedia)smog smŏg [key] [smoke+fog], dense, visible air pollution. Smog is commonly of two types. The gray smog of older industrial cities like London and New York derives from the massive combustion of coal...

Myers, Richard Bowman

(Encyclopedia)Myers, Richard Bowman, 1942–, American Air Force general, b. Kansas City, Mo. He studied at Kansas State Univ., graduating and joining the Air Force in 1965; he later attended Auburn Univ. (M.A., 19...

Yost, Ed

(Encyclopedia)Yost, Ed (Paul Edward Yost), 1919–2007, American balloonist, b. Bristow, Iowa, grad. Boeing School of Aeronautics, 1940. The father of modern hot-air ballooning, Yost pioneered the used of propane (...

pneumatic tool

(Encyclopedia)pneumatic tool no͝omătˈĭk [key], instrument activated by air pressure. Pneumatic tools are designed around three basic devices: the air cylinder, the vane motor, and the sprayer. The air cylinder ...

polar front

(Encyclopedia)polar front, zone of transition between polar and tropical air masses. Its average position during the winter is at about 30° lat. and during the summer at about 60° lat. In the N Atlantic Ocean, fo...

right of way

(Encyclopedia)right of way, in land and air traffic and in sea navigation, rules that determine precedence in the use of traffic lanes. The rules are framed in the simplest possible terms and with nearly absolute u...

evaporation

(Encyclopedia)evaporation, change of a liquid into vapor at any temperature below its boiling point. For example, water, when placed in a shallow open container exposed to air, gradually disappears, evaporating at ...

Douhet, Giulio

(Encyclopedia)Douhet, Giulio jo͞oˈlyō do͞oāˈ [key], 1869–1930, Italian military officer and early advocate of airpower. He was an early supporter of strategic bombing and the military superiority of air for...

intuition

(Encyclopedia)intuition, in philosophy, way of knowing directly; immediate apprehension. The Greeks understood intuition to be the grasp of universal principles by the intelligence (nous), as distinguished from the...

compressor

(Encyclopedia)compressor, machine that decreases the volume of air or other gas by the application of pressure. Compressor types range from the simple hand pump and the piston-equipped compressor used to inflate ti...