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moss, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Life cycle of a moss: A germinating spore forms a transitory branching structure on the soil surface, which develops into the conspicuous gametophyte, the familiar moss plant. Eggs and sperm ar...

Neolithic period

(Encyclopedia)Neolithic period or New Stone Age. The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the ...

brown dwarf

(Encyclopedia)brown dwarf, in astronomy, celestial body that is larger than a planet but does not have sufficient mass to convert hydrogen into helium via nuclear fusion as stars do. Also called “failed stars,”...

Agassiz, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Agassiz, Louis (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz) ăgˈəsē [key], 1807–73, Swiss-American zoologist and geologist, b. Môtiers-en-Vuly, Switzerland. He studied at the universities of Zürich, Erlangen ...

Boas, Franz

(Encyclopedia)Boas, Franz bōˈăz, –ăs [key], 1858–1942, German-American anthropologist, b. Minden, Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Kiel, 1881. He joined an expedition to Baffin Island in 1883 and initiated his field...

Deloria, Vine Victor Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Deloria, Vine, Jr., 1933–2005, American author, theologian, historian, and activist, b. Marin, S.Dak. Considered by some to be the leading intellectua...

crab

(Encyclopedia)crab, crustacean with an enlarged cephalothorax covered by a broad, flat shell called the carapace. Extending from the cephalothorax are the various appendages: five pairs of legs, the first pair bear...

cosmic rays

(Encyclopedia)cosmic rays, charged particles moving at nearly the speed of light reaching the earth from outer space. Primary cosmic rays consist mostly of protons (nuclei of hydrogen atoms), some alpha particles (...

convention

(Encyclopedia)convention, in U.S. politics, a gathering of delegates to nominate candidates for elective office and to formulate party policy. They are held at the national, state, and local levels. State convent...

colony

(Encyclopedia)colony, any nonself-governing territory subject to the jurisdiction of a usually distant country. The term is also applied to a group of nationals who settle in a foreign country or territory but reta...