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electroscope

(Encyclopedia)electroscope, device for detecting electric charge invented by Nollet in 1748. There are various types of electroscopes. The most common has a cylindrical metal case closed by two round, flat, glass f...

Diddley, Bo

(Encyclopedia)Diddley, Bo, 1928–2008, African-American singer, guitarist, and songwriter who was one of the founders of rock and roll, b. near McComb, Miss., as Otha Ellas Bates. He and his cousin, Gussie McDanie...

International System of Units

(Encyclopedia)International System of Units, officially called the Système International d'Unités, or SI, system of units adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1960). It is based on the ...

microphone

(Encyclopedia)microphone, device for converting sound into electrical energy, used in radio broadcasting, recording, and sound amplifying systems. Its basic component is a diaphragm that responds to the pressure or...

Asian carp

(Encyclopedia)Asian carp, term for several large, hardy freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae (the minnow family) that are native to E Asia and have become invasive species in the United States. The fish, which ...

Krasnoyarsk Territory

(Encyclopedia)Krasnoyarsk Territory, administrative division (1989 pop. 3,595,000), c.928,000 sq mi (2,403,520 sq km), central Siberian Russia, extending from the Sayan Mts. and the Minusinsk basin in the south acr...

luminescence

(Encyclopedia)luminescence, general term applied to all forms of cool light, i.e., light emitted by sources other than a hot, incandescent body, such as a blackbody radiator. Luminescence is caused by the movement ...

plasma

(Encyclopedia)plasma, in physics, fully ionized gas of low density, containing approximately equal numbers of positive and negative ions (see electron and ion). It is electrically conductive and is affected by magn...

Port Said

(Encyclopedia)Port Said bo͝or [key], city (1986 pop. 469,533), NE Egypt, a port on the Mediterranean Sea at the entrance to the Suez Canal. It is a fueling point for ships using the canal and is the site of the ma...

tattoo

(Encyclopedia)tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of ...