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molecular weight

(Encyclopedia)molecular weight, weight of a molecule of a substance expressed in atomic mass units (amu). The molecular weight may be calculated from the molecular formula of the substance; it is the sum of the ato...

carbon dioxide

(Encyclopedia)carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. It does not bur...

Pascal's law

(Encyclopedia)Pascal's law päskälzˈ [key] [for Blaise Pascal], states that pressure applied to a confined fluid at any point is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluid in all directions and acts upon every...

Onsager, Lars

(Encyclopedia)Onsager, Lars, 1903–76, American physical chemist, b. Oslo, Ph.D. Yale, 1935. Onsager taught at Brown Univ. from 1928 to 1933 and was on the faculty at Yale from 1933 until his retirement in 1972. H...

hemophilia

(Encyclopedia)hemophilia hēˌməfĭlˈēə, –fēlˈyə [key], genetic disease in which the clotting ability of the blood is impaired and excessive bleeding results. The disease is transmitted through females but...

brain

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Brain brain, the supervisory center of the nervous system in all vertebrates. It also serves as the site of emotions, memory, self-awareness, and thought. Brain research, now often referred ...

Minot, George Richards

(Encyclopedia)Minot, George Richards mīˈnət [key], 1885–1950, American physician and pathologist, b. Boston, M.D. Harvard, 1912. From 1928 to 1948 he was professor of medicine at Harvard and director of the Th...

sarcoma

(Encyclopedia)sarcoma särkōˈmə [key], highly malignant tumor arising in connective- and muscle-cell tissue. It is the result of oncogenes (the cancer causing genes of some viruses) and proto-oncogenes (cancer c...

lancelet

(Encyclopedia)lancelet, name for small, fishlike lower chordate (see Chordata), also called amphioxus; it shows many affinities with the vertebrates. There are about 30 lancelet species, most belonging to the genus...

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 ...