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dandruff

(Encyclopedia)dandruff, excessive flaking of skin from the scalp, apparent as dry or greasy diffuse scaling with variable itching. It is the sign of a skin disease, such as seborrhea or a fungal infection. Treatmen...

Joint Base Andrews

(Encyclopedia)Joint Base Andrews, officially Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington, formerly Andrews Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 4,279 acres (1,732 hectares), central Md., est. 1943. It i...

sandstorm

(Encyclopedia)sandstorm, strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero; also known as a dusts...

amphibian, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)amphibian, in zoology, cold-blooded vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia. There are three living orders of amphibians: the frogs and toads (order Anura, or Salientia), the salamanders and newts (or...

SARS

(Encyclopedia)SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome, communicable viral disease that can progress to a potentially fatal pneumonia. The first symptoms of SARS are usually a high fever, headache and body aches, ...

Carrier, Willis Haviland

(Encyclopedia)Carrier, Willis Haviland, 1876–1950, American engineer who played a key role in inventing air conditioning, b. Angola, N.Y., grad. Cornell (M.E. 1901). Working for the Buffalo Forge Co. (1901–14),...

weight

(Encyclopedia)weight, measure of the force of gravity on a body (see gravitation). Since the weights of different bodies at the same location are proportional to their masses, weight is often used as a measure of m...

Des Moines, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Des Moines, river, 535 mi (861 km) long, rising in SW Minn. and flowing SE across Iowa to the Mississippi River at Keokuk, SE Iowa. Flowing through fertile farmland, the river floods in the spring and...

soiling

(Encyclopedia)soiling, agricultural practice of feeding green fodder to livestock in the barn or dry lot. It is followed in the United States mostly in the dairy industry in seasons when pastures are short, but in ...

acrylic

(Encyclopedia)acrylic, artificial fiber made from a special group of vinyl compounds, primarily acrylonitrile. Acrylic fibers are thermoplastic (i.e., soften when heated, reharden upon cooling), have low moisture r...