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Medicare

(Encyclopedia)Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over and the disabled. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run...

string theory

(Encyclopedia)string theory, description of elementary particles based on one-dimensional curves, or “strings,” instead of point particles. Superstring theory, which is string theory that contains a kind of sym...

Yap

(Encyclopedia)Yap yăp, yäp [key], state (1990 pop. 10,886), c.47 sq mi (121 sq km), in the W Caroline Islands, W Pacific. One of four states comprising the Federated States of Micronesia, the island group was for...

Schwarzkopf, H. Norman

(Encyclopedia)Schwarzkopf, H. Norman (Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.), 1934–2012, U.S. army general, b. Trenton, N.J. He graduated from West Point (1956) and served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, the firs...

Aldrin, Buzz

(Encyclopedia)Aldrin, Buzz ôlˈdrĭn [key] (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.), 1930–, American astronaut, b. Montclair, N.J. After graduating from West Point (1951), Aldrin joined the U.S. air force and flew 66 combat m...

Groves, Leslie Richard

(Encyclopedia)Groves, Leslie Richard, 1896–1970, American army officer and engineer who headed the program that developed America's atomic bomb, b. Albany, N.Y., grad. West Point (1918). He was commissioned in th...

SETI

(Encyclopedia)SETI sĕtˈē [key] [Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence], name given to a series of independent programs to detect radio signals from civilizations beyond the solar system. Modern SETI efforts c...

squash racquets

(Encyclopedia)squash racquets or squash, game played on a four-walled court, 16 ft (4.88 m) high by 181⁄2 ft (5.64 m) wide by 32 ft (9.75 m) long. The back wall, shorter than the front wall, usually measures 9 ft...

Orion, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Orion, in astronomy, constellation located on the celestial equator. It is one of the most conspicuous and easily recognizable constellations in the entire sky. From ancient times it has been mentione...

Massif Central

(Encyclopedia)Massif Central mäsēfˈ säNträlˈ [key] [Fr.,=central highlands], great mountainous plateau, c.33,000 sq mi (85,470 sq km), S central France, covering almost a sixth of the surface of the country. ...