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aurora borealis

(Encyclopedia)aurora borealis ôstrāˈlĭs [key], luminous display of various forms and colors seen in the night sky. The aurora borealis of the Northern Hemisphere is often called the northern lights, and the aur...

volleyball

(Encyclopedia)volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2.24 m) for w...

vacuum

(Encyclopedia)vacuum, theoretically, space without matter in it. A perfect vacuum has never been obtained; the best human-generated vacuums contain less than 100,000 gas molecules per cc, compared to about 30 billi...

aging

(Encyclopedia)aging, in biology, cumulative changes in an organism, organ, tissue, or cell leading to a decrease in functional capacity. In humans, aging is associated with degenerative changes in the skin, bones, ...

cave

(Encyclopedia)cave, a cavity in the earth's surface usually large enough for a person to enter. Caves may be formed by the chemical and mechanical action of a stream upon soluble or soft rock, of rainwater seeping ...

Vesuvius

(Encyclopedia)Vesuvius vəso͞oˈvēəs [key], Ital. Vesuvio, active volcano, S Italy, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Naples, SE of Naples. The only other active volcano on the European mainland is the Campi Fl...

water rights

(Encyclopedia)water rights, in law, the qualified privilege of a landowner to use the water adjacent to or flowing through his property. The privilege, also known as riparian rights, may be modified or even denied ...

international monetary system

(Encyclopedia)international monetary system, rules and procedures by which different national currencies are exchanged for each other in world trade. Such a system is necessary to define a common standard of value ...

alcoholism

(Encyclopedia)alcoholism, 04/00 disease characterized by impaired control over the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Alcoholism is a serious problem worldwide; in the United States the wide availability of alcoho...

volcano

(Encyclopedia)volcano, vents or fissures in the earth's crust through which gases, molten rock, or lava, and solid fragments are discharged. Their study is called volcanology. The term volcano is commonly applied b...