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dark energy

(Encyclopedia)dark energy, repulsive force that opposes the self-attraction of matter (see gravitation) and causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The search for dark energy was triggered by the discov...

carnivore

(Encyclopedia)carnivore kärˈnəvôrˌ [key], term commonly applied to any animal whose diet consists wholly or largely of animal matter. In animal systematics it refers to members of the mammalian order Carnivora...

Yosai

(Encyclopedia)Yosai (Kikuchi Yosai) kēko͞oˈchē yōˈsī [key], 1788–1878, Japanese painter, known for his depiction of historical subject matter. Although he was well trained in the Chinese and Western painti...

nuclear physics

(Encyclopedia)nuclear physics, study of the components, structure, and behavior of the nucleus of the atom. It is especially concerned with the nature of matter and with nuclear energy. ...

belief

(Encyclopedia)belief, in philosophy, commitment to something, involving intellectual assent. Philosophers have disagreed as to whether belief is active or passive; René Descartes held that it is a matter of will, ...

Edelman, Gerald Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Edelman, Gerald Maurice, 1929–2014, American biochemist and neuroscientist, b. Queens, N.Y., M.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1954; Ph.D. Rockefeller Institute, 1960. He was a professor at the Rockefelle...

Kanaoka

(Encyclopedia)Kanaoka känäˈōkä [key], fl. 2d half of 9th cent., Japanese landscape and figure painter, founder of the Kose school of painting. None of his works survives, but tradition says that he was the fir...

Hodgson, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Hodgson, Ralph, 1871–1962, English poet. He wrote five volumes of poetry before his collected poems appeared in 1917. After a silence of nearly 40 years—during which time he taught in Japan and em...

will-o'-the-wisp

(Encyclopedia)will-o'-the-wisp, phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may r...

septic tank

(Encyclopedia)septic tank, underground sedimentation tank in which sewage is retained for a short period while it is decomposed and purified by bacterial action. The organic matter in the sewage settles to the bott...