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color

(Encyclopedia)color, effect produced on the eye and its associated nerves by light waves of different wavelength or frequency. Light transmitted from an object to the eye stimulates the different color cones of the...

Mankato

(Encyclopedia)Mankato mănkāˈtō [key], city (1990 pop. 31,477), seat of Blue Earth co., S Minn., at the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers; inc. 1865. It is a trade and processing center for a far...

Bunyan, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Bunyan, Paul, legendary American lumberjack. He was the hero of a series of “tall tales” popular through the timber country from Michigan westward. Bunyan was known for his fantastic strength and ...

green flash

(Encyclopedia)green flash or emerald flash, a refractive phenomenon of the atmosphere where the top edge of the setting (or, less frequently, rising) sun will momentarily turn emerald green. The green color lasts f...

iris, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Red iris, Iris fulva iris, common name for members of the genus Iris of the Iridaceae, a family of perennial herbs that includes the crocuses, freesias, and gladioli. The family is characteriz...

Akasaki, Isamu

(Encyclopedia)Akasaki, Isamu, 1929–2021, Japanese physicist, b. Chiran, Japan, Kyoto Univ. (BA, 1942), Nagoya Univ. (Ph.D., 1964). Aftger graduating from college, Akasaki worked as an engineer before ...

porcelain

(Encyclopedia)porcelain [Ital. porcellana], white, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck. Porcelain was first made by the Chinese to withstand the great heat generated...

litmus

(Encyclopedia)litmus, organic dye usually used in the laboratory as an indicator of acidity or alkalinity (see acids and bases). Naturally pink in color, it turns blue in alkali solutions and red in acids. Commonly...

larkspur, in botany

(Encyclopedia)larkspur, any north temperate, Old World annual of the genus Consolida of the buttercup family. Consolida species were formerly classified in the genus Delphinium, which includes similar annual, bienn...

color index

(Encyclopedia)color index, in astronomy, difference in an object's brightness as recorded between any two well-defined bands of the electromagnetic spectrum by using optical filters of different colors. If blue and...