Thursday, June 30, 2011

T Symmetry

T Symmetry is the symmetry of physical laws under a time reversal transformation:

 T: t \mapsto -t.

Although in restricted contexts one may find this symmetry, the observable universe itself does not show symmetry under time reversal, primarily due to the second law of thermodynamics.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

heliosynchronous

By analogy with the geosynchronous orbit, a heliosynchronous orbit is a heliocentric orbit where the satellite's period of revolution matches the Sun's period of rotation. These orbits occur at a radius of 24.360 Gm (0.1628 AU) around the Sun, a little less than half of the orbital radius of Mercury.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Malignancy

Malignancy (from the Latin roots mal- = "bad" and -genus = "born") is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. It is characterized by the properties of anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis.

Monday, June 27, 2011

falsetto

The term falsetto refers to the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal cords, in whole or in part. Commonly cited in the context of singing, falsetto, a characteristic of phonation by both men and women, is also one of four main spoken vocal registers recognized by speech pathology.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

soughing

Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, soughing, or susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent representation and manipulation of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. Developed in conjunction with the Universal Character Set standard and published in book form as The Unicode Standard, the latest version of Unicode consists of a repertoire of more than 107,000 characters covering 90 scripts, a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding methodology and set of standard character encodings, an enumeration of character properties such as upper and lower case, a set of reference data computer files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for normalization, decomposition, collation, rendering, and bidirectional display order (for the correct display of text containing both right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic or Hebrew, and left-to-right scripts).

Thursday, June 23, 2011

interrupt

In computing, an interrupt is an asynchronous signal indicating the need for attention or a synchronous event in software indicating the need for a change in execution.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

ʻōteʻa

The ʻōteʻa, (usually written as otea, Tahitian being lazy with accents) is a traditional dance from Tahiti characterized by a rapid hip-shaking motion to percussion accompaniment.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Zatrachydidae


The Zatrachydidae are a family of late Carboniferous and Early Permian temnospondyl amphibians, known from North America and Europe. They are distinguished by lateral (sideways) bony protuberances of the Quadratojugal bone of the skull, and a large opening in the palate. The skull is flattened, with small orbits set far back. The opening in the palate may have housed a gland for producing a sticky substance so that prey would adhere to the tongue. If so, this indicates that these animals spent a large part of their time on land.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

ISOFIX


ISOFIX is the international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars. The system is also known as LATCH ("Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children") in the United States and LUAS ("Lower Universal Anchorage System") or Canfix in Canada. It has also been called the "Universal Child Safety Seat System" or UCSSS.

Friday, June 17, 2011

systematics


Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of life on the planet Earth, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phylogenies have two components, branching order (showing group relationships) and branch length (showing amount of evolution). Phylogenetic trees of species and higher taxa are used to study the evolution of traits (e.g., anatomical or molecular characteristics) and the distribution of organisms (biogeography). Systematics, in other words, is used to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

mesophile

A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, typically between 15 and 40 °C (77 and 104 °F). The term is mainly applied to microorganisms.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Filmjölk


Filmjölk (also known as fil or the older word surmjölk) is a Swedish mesophilic fermented milk product that is made by fermenting cow's milk with a variety of bacteria from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The bacteria metabolize lactose, the sugar naturally found in milk, into lactic acid. The acid gives filmjölk a sour taste and causes proteins in the milk, mainly casein, to coagulate, thus thickening the final product. The bacteria also produce a limited amount of diacetyl, which gives filmjölk its characteristic taste. Filmjölk is similar to cultured buttermilk, kefir, or yoghurt in consistency, but fermented by different bacteria and thus has a slightly different taste. Compared with yoghurt, filmjölk tastes less sour. In Sweden, it is normally sold in 1-liter packages with live bacteria. The bacteria helps maintain the balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria in the intestines.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Diplodocus


Diplodocus is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek διπλόος (diploos) "double" and δοκός (dokos) "beam", in reference to its double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail. These bones were initially believed to be unique to Diplodocus; however, they have since then been discovered in other members of the diplodocid family and in non-diplodocid sauropods such as Mamenchisaurus.

Monday, June 13, 2011

rhizome


In botany, a rhizome (from Greek:"root-stalk") is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes may also be referred to as creeping rootstalks, or rootstocks.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

register

A register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting.

For example, an English speaker may adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal instead of an alveolar nasal (e.g. "walking", not "walkin'"), choose more formal words (e.g. train vs. choo-choo, sodium chloride vs. salt, child vs. kid, etc.), and refrain from using the word ain't when speaking in a formal setting, but the same person could violate all of these prescriptions in an informal setting.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Saxomat

Saxomat was a type of automatic clutch. The Hydrak, used in some Mercedes-Benz vehicles between 1957 and 1961, was a similar system with a hydrostatic torque converter in place of the Saxomat's centrifugal clutch. The system also reappeared in the 1990s as Sensonic.

Cars with a Saxomat clutch did not have a clutch pedal. The Saxomat consisted of two independent systems, the centrifugal clutch, and the servo clutch. The centrifugal clutch was engaged above certain engine rpms by centrifugal force, acting on spinning weights inside the clutch, similar to a centrifugal governor.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Kevlar


Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Bilander


A Bilander, also spelled billander or be'landre, was a small European merchant ship with two masts, used in the Netherlands for coast and canal traffic and occasionally seen in the North Sea but more frequently to be seen in the Mediterranean Sea. The mainmast was lateen-rigged with a trapezoidal mainsail, but the foremast carried the conventional square course and square topsail. Displacement was typically under 100 tons. The bilander was short-lived, being replaced by more efficient designs, and few examples exist today.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

dandy


A dandy (also known as a beau, or gallant) is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self. Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic style of life despite coming from a middle-class background.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Hikikomori

Hikikomori, lit. "pulling away, being confined", i.e., "acute social withdrawal", is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive people who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general as well as to people belonging to this societal group.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Pétanque


Pétanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (jack). The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel, but can also be played on grass or other surfaces. Soft sandy beaches are not suitable. Similar games are bocce and bowls.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

ramjet


A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Beer Pong

Beer Pong (also known as Beirut) is a drinking game in which players throw a ping-pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer/water on the other end. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams and multiple cups set up on each side set up in triangle formation. There are no official rules, so rules may vary widely, though usually there are six or ten plastic cups arranged in a triangle on each side.
File:Beerpong.png

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Glassing


Glassing is a physical attack using a glass as a weapon. Glassing can occur at bars or pubs where alcohol is served, and a drinking glass or bottle is available as a weapon. The most common method of glassing involves the attacker smashing an intact glass in the face of the victim. However the glass may be smashed prior to the attack, and then gripped by the remaining base of the glass or neck of the bottle with the broken shards protruding outwards.

Common injuries resulting from glassings are heavy blood loss, permanent scarring, disfigurement and loss of sight through eye injury.

In the United Kingdom, there are more than 5,000 glassing attacks each year. In 2000, following a series a glassing attacks in Manchester, Greater Manchester Police and the Manchester Evening News launched a campaign Safe Glass Safe City promoting the use of toughened glass in pubs and clubs to prevent such attacks.

lordosis

  Lordosis is historically defined as an abnormal inward curvature of the lumbar spine.