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porpoise

(Encyclopedia)porpoise, small whale of the family Phocaenidae, allied to the dolphin. Porpoises, like other whales, are mammals; they are warm-blooded, breathe air, and give birth to live young, which they suckle w...

food preservation

(Encyclopedia)food preservation, methods of preparing food so that it can be stored for future use. Because most foods remain edible for only a brief period of time, people since the earliest ages have experimented...

almond

(Encyclopedia)almond, name for a small tree (Prunus amygdalus) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for the nutlike, edible seed of its drupe fruit. The “nuts” of sweet-almond varieties are eaten raw or roa...

Cotton, John

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, John, 1584–1652, Puritan clergyman in England and Massachusetts, b. Derbyshire, educated at Cambridge. Imbued with Puritan doctrines, he won many followers during his 20 years as vicar of th...

lysine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 lysine līˈsēn [key], organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is one of several essential amino...

buffalo, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)buffalo, name commonly applied to the American bison but correctly restricted to certain related African and Asian mammals of the cattle family. The water buffalo, or Indian buffalo, Bubalus bubalis, ...

tryptophan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 tryptophan trĭpˈtəfăn [key], organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is one of several essent...

pharming

(Encyclopedia)pharming färˈmĭng [key], the use of genetically altered livestock, such as cows, goats, pigs, and chickens, to produce medically useful products. In pharming, researchers first create hybrid genes ...

centrifuge

(Encyclopedia)centrifuge sĕnˈtrəfyo͞oj [key], device using centrifugal force to separate two or more substances of different density, e.g., two liquids or a liquid and a solid. The centrifuge consists of a fixe...

Gaye, Marvin

(Encyclopedia) Gaye, Marvin, 1939-1984, African-American singer and songwriter, b. Washington, D.C., as Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. Gaye’s father was a minister, and Gaye...