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air lock
air lock compartment connecting two different environments, usually at different pressures, that enables personnel to transfer from one environment to the other. Space capsules have air locks to enable astronauts to move between the pressurized cabin and the near vacuum of space. A more common exam...
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terrarium
terrarium a miniature garden in an artificial environment, in which small plants and animals may be kept as ornament or for educational purposes. Fish bowls, small fish tanks, large bottles, and carboys are often employed as containers for terrariums; such vessels permit the necessary entrance of l...
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AARP
AARP a nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization dedicated to "enriching the experience of aging" ; membership is open to people age 50 or older. Founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus as American Association of Retired Persons, AARP now has over 30 million members, enabling it to act as a pow...
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franchise
franchise in government, a right specifically conferred on a group or individual by a government, especially the privilege conferred by a municipality on a corporation of operating public utilities, such as electricity, telephone, and bus services. Franchises may not be revoked without the consent ...
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Richard Erskine Frere Leakey
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey , 1944-, Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist, and government official. The son of Louis and Mary Leakey , he spent much of his early life at archaeological sites in E Africa. His own career began in 1968 when, as a paleoanthropologist without formal academic tra...
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Four-H clubs
Four-H clubs or 4-H clubs, organizations for boys and girls from 9 to 19 years of age. The group is part of an educational program designed to improve techniques of agriculture and home economics, promote high ideals of civic responsibility, provide training for community leadership, and foster...
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Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory . Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble ) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. Using a Ritchey-Chrétien design that affords ...
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feather
feather One of the skin appendages that makes up the plumage of birds. They are composed of the fibrous protein keratin, and provide insulation and enable flight. They are usually replaced at least once a year....
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feather
feather One of the skin appendages that makes up the plumage of birds. They are composed of the fibrous protein keratin, and provide insulation and enable flight. They are usually replaced at least once a year....
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vagina
vagina
is the Latin word for ‘sheath’, which makes an interesting comparison with the alternative word for a condom. From this same root, the term ‘invaginated’ means ensheathed, or turned in on itself, like the finger of an empty glove introverte...
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