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raft

(Encyclopedia)raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

Campbell, Keith

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Keith, 1954–2012, British cell biologist, b. Birmingham, England, Ph.D. Univ. of Sussex, 1986. In 1991 he joined the Edinburgh Research Station of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (...

toad

(Encyclopedia)toad, name applied to certain members of the amphibian order Anura, which also includes the frog. Although there is no clear-cut distinction between toads and frogs, the name toad commonly refers to t...

leatherback

(Encyclopedia)leatherback, marine turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters around the world. The largest of all turtles, it may reach a length of 71⁄2 ft (230 cm) and wei...

mudskipper

(Encyclopedia)mudskipper, name for fish of several genera in the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family, found in coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans and on the Atlantic coast of Africa. The typically...

epithelium

(Encyclopedia)epithelium ĕpˌəthēˈlēəm [key], sheet of tissue that covers or lines the external and internal body surfaces. The epithelium is closely packed, has little intercellular material, and is lacking ...

hydrocortisone

(Encyclopedia)hydrocortisone hīˌdrəkôrˈtĭzōnˌ [key], another name for the steroid hormone cortisol, more especially used to refer to preparations of this hormone used medicinally. Hydrocortisone, introduced...

cretinism

(Encyclopedia)cretinism krēˈtənĭzˌəm [key], condition produced in infants and children due to lack of thyroid hormone. It usually results from a congenital defect (e.g., absence of the thyroid, presence of on...

sarin

(Encyclopedia)sarin zärēnˈ [key], volatile liquid used as a nerve gas. It boils at 147℃ but evaporates quickly at room temperature; its vapor is colorless and odorless. Chemically, sarin is fluoroisopropoxymet...

rinderpest

(Encyclopedia)rinderpest or cattle plague, an acute and highly infectious viral disease of cattle. It less frequently affects other ruminants, such as sheep, goats, and wild game. After an incubation period of thre...