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cinnamon

(Encyclopedia)cinnamon, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). True cinnamon spice comes from the Ceylon or Sri Lanka cinnamon (C. verum or C. zeylanicum), now cu...

urine

(Encyclopedia)urine, clear, amber-colored fluid formed by the kidneys that carries metabolic wastes out of the body (see urinary system). As the blood circulates it collects excretory products from the tissues and ...

Kachchh

(Encyclopedia)Kachchh, Kutch, or Cutch all: kŭch [key], district (1991 pop. 1,252,507), 17,000 sq mi (44,030 sq km), Gujarat state, W India, bounded on the N by Pakistan. It is largely barren except for a fertile...

Soderbergh, Steven

(Encyclopedia)Soderbergh, Steven (Steven Andrew Soderbergh), 1963–, American film director, b. Atlanta, Ga. After making short films and documentaries, he scored a commercial success with sex, lies, and videotape...

San Luis Potosí, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)San Luis Potosí, city (1990 pop. 489,238), capital of San Luis Potosí state, central Mexico. Situated on a plain almost entirely surrounded by low mountains, the city is a mining and agricultural di...

shape memory

(Encyclopedia)shape memory, property possessed by certain alloys that allows them to return, when heated, to their original shape after having been deformed. This effect results because, as the alloy is deformed, i...

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

(Encyclopedia)Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, at Zürich, founded 1855 as the Federal Polytechnic Institute, given its current name 1911. It is a science and technology research university with a solid reput...

calcination

(Encyclopedia)calcination kălˌsənāˈshən [key], in metallurgy, process of heating solid material to drive off volatile chemically combined components, e.g., carbon dioxide. It is sometimes a step in the extrac...

Perceval, Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Perceval, Spencer, 1762–1812, British statesman. He had a profitable law practice before he entered the House of Commons as a Tory in 1796. He was solicitor general (1801–2), attorney general (180...

platform tennis

(Encyclopedia)platform tennis, version of lawn tennis played on an elevated wooden or aluminum court that is one fourth the size of a standard court, usually by doubles teams. Unlike lawn tennis, platform tennis al...