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caracara: any of about 10 species of birds of prey of the New World subfamily Polyborinae (or Daptriinae) of the family Falconidae. Caracaras feed largely on carrion, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. ... [1 Related Articles]
Caracas: city, capital of Venezuela, and one of the principal cities of South America. It is Venezuela's largest urban agglomeration and the country's primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and culture. ... [10 Related Articles]
Caracas Lions: (from the article "Baseball") The 2006 Caribbean Series was held February 2-7 in the Venezuelan cities of Maracay and Valencia. The Caracas Lions (Leones) went 6-0 to give Venezuela that country's first series title ...
Caracas, Poliedro de: (from the article "building construction") ...115.3 metres (384 feet) in diameter using steel tube members. These are used as workshops for the Union Tank Car Company in Wood River, Ill., and Baton Rouge, La. The ...
Caracciola, Rudolf: German automobile-racing driver who was one of the most successful and versatile of modern times. He participated in hill climbs and speed trials as well as races.
Caracciolo, Domenico: (from the article "Italy") ...which called for equal justice for all, state intervention in economic affairs, and broad educational reforms, ranks among the most important works of the European Enlightenment. At the same time, ...
Caracciolo, Francesco, duca di Brienza: Neapolitan admiral who was executed on the orders of the British admiral Horatio Nelson for supporting the republican revolution at Naples in 1799. Considered a traitor by some Italians, he ...
Caracciolo, Giovanni: (from the article "Joan II") Joan appointed her next lover, Giovanni Caracciolo (called Sergianni), as grand seneschal; he made peace with Sforza and appointed him grand constable. Nevertheless, Sforza supported Louis III of Anjou's claim ...
Caracol: major prehistoric Mayan city, now an archaeological site in west-central Belize, 47 miles (76 km) southeast of the Guatemalan Mayan city of Tikal. The name is Spanish (meaning "snail"); the ...
Caracol, El: (from the article "astronomical observatory") ...and planets from atop their terraced towers known as ziggurats. No astronomical instruments appear to have been used. The Indians of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico carried out the same ...
caracole: (from the article "tactics") ...infantry formations by approaching them in serried ranks, firing at point-blank range, and withdrawing in turn-a maneuver resembling the orderly moves of a ballroom dance and known as the caracole. ...
Caradon: district, administrative and historic county of Cornwall, England. It lies between Bodmin Moor and the English Channel in southeastern Cornwall; the River Tamar forms the boundary with Devon to the ...
Carafa, Oliviero: (from the article "Bramante, Donato") ...his activity as a designer and was devoting himself to the study of the ancient monuments in and around Rome, even ranging as far south as Naples. In the meantime, ...
Caragiale, Costache: actor-manager who helped to encourage the development of a unique Romanian drama.
Caragiale, Ion Luca: Romanian playwright and prose writer of great satirical power. [1 Related Articles]
Caraja: tribe of South American Indians living along the Araguaia River, near the inland island of Bananal, in central Brazil. Their language may be distantly related to Ge, which is spoken ...
Carajas, Serra dos: (from the article "mineral deposit") Lake Superior-type BIFs are known and mined on all continents. Among the most famous are the Lake Superior deposits of Michigan and Minnesota, the Labrador Trough deposits of Canada, Serra ...
Caraka: (from the article "medicine, history of") ...1000, was marked especially by the production of the medical treatises known as the Caraka-samhita and Susruta-samhita, attributed, respectively, to Caraka, a physician, and Susruta, a surgeon. Estimates place the ...
Caral: (from the article "Anthropology and Archaeology") Caral is a complex of pyramids, plazas, and staircases in the arid Supe River valley about 115 mi (185 km) north of Lima. The site had been largely overlooked until ...
caramel: candy substance obtained by boiling sugar to or beyond approximately 240° F (115° C), at which point its mass takes on a slightly yellowish colour and pleasantly burnt smell. [2 Related Articles]
caramelization: (from the article "candy") ...is plastic at normal temperatures. The action of heat on the milk solids, in conjunction with the sugar ingredients, imparts the typical flavour and colour to these candies. This process ...
Caran: Hindu caste of hereditary genealogists, bards, and storytellers located in Gujarat state in western India. They claim origin from the Rajput caste of Rajasthan and may be of mixed Brahman ...
Caran d'Ache: caricaturist and illustrator whose line drawing was notable for its crisp, forceful simplicity. The name Caran d'Ache transliterates the Russian word for pencil. [2 Related Articles]
carangid: any fish of the family Carangidae (order Perciformes), which contains more than 200 species of marine fishes, including such well-known forms as the jacks and pompanos. Carangids are swift, predatory, ... [1 Related Articles]
carangiform locomotion: (from the article "locomotion") ...shape of an eel; only those with a similar body form, in which the surface area of the head end is the same as that of the tail end, have ...
Caranqui: (from the article "pre-Columbian civilizations") ...to have controlled any outliers of their own on the Amazonic slope. Their main puna farms and most of their subjects lived above 12,000 feet, and their camelid herds were ...
carapace: (from the article "boxfish") any of a small group of shallow-water marine fishes of the family Ostraciontidae (or Ostraciidae), distinguished by a hard, boxlike, protective carapace covering most of the body. The alternative name ...
Caraquet: town and fishing port, Gloucester county, northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies along Caraquet Bay (an inlet of Chaleur Bay), near the mouth of the Caraquet River, 42 miles (68 ...
carat: unit of weight for diamonds and certain other precious gems. Before 1913 the weight of a carat varied in different gem centres. Originally based on the weight of grains or ...
Caratacus: king of the British tribe of Trinovantes, and the son of Cunobelinus (q.v.). [3 Related Articles]
Caratasca Lagoon: lagoon in northeastern Honduras. The country's largest lagoon, Caratasca extends inland from the Caribbean Sea for approximately 25 miles (40 km) and measures up to 55 miles (88 km) from ...
Caratheodory, Constantin: German mathematician of Greek origin who made important contributions to the theory of real functions, to the calculus of variations, and to the theory of point-set measure.
Carausius: (from the article "insect") A few insects (e.g., the stick insect Carausius) rarely produce males, and the eggs develop without fertilization in a process known as parthenogenesis. During summer months in temperate latitudes, aphids ...
Carausius, Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus: officer in the Roman military service who created a short-lived independent state in Britain. [5 Related Articles]
Caravaca: city in the provincia (province) and comunidad autonoma (autonomous community) of Murcia, southeastern Spain, about 40 miles (65 km) west-northwest of Murcia city.
Caravaggio: Italian painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting. Scorning the traditional idealized interpretation of religious ... [14 Related Articles]
Caravaggism: (from the article "Caravaggio") The many painters who imitated Caravaggio's style soon became known as Caravaggisti. Caravaggio's influence in Rome itself was remarkable but short-lived, lasting only until the 1620s. His foremost followers elsewhere ...
Caravan: (from the article "automobile") ...Issigonis's Mini packaging applied to a larger box, the minivan featured a transverse power package with the rest of the vehicle devoted to passengers and cargo. The first example was ...
caravan: a group of merchants, pilgrims, or travelers journeying together, usually for mutual protection in deserts or other hostile regions. In the deserts of Asia and northern Africa, the animal most ... [1 Related Articles]
caravansary: in the Middle East and parts of North Africa and Central Asia, a public building used for sheltering caravans and other travelers. The caravansary is usually constructed outside the walls ... [4 Related Articles]
caravel: a light sailing ship of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Europe, much-used by the Spanish and Portuguese for long voyages. Apparently developed by the Portuguese for exploring the ... [2 Related Articles]
Caravelle: (from the article "flight, history of") France succeeded with its first effort at a jet airliner, creating the Sud-Est (later Aerospatiale) SE 210 Caravelle, a medium-range turbojet intended primarily for the continental European market. First flown ...
caraway: the dried fruit, commonly called seed, of Carum carvi, a biennial herb of the parsley family (Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae), native to Europe and western Asia and cultivated since ancient times. ... [1 Related Articles]
Caraway, Hattie Ophelia: American politician who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. [1 Related Articles]
Caraway, Thaddeus H.: (from the article "Caraway, Hattie Ophelia") Hattie Wyatt grew up in her native Bakerville, Tennessee, and in nearby Hustburg. She graduated (1896) from Dickson Normal School and for a time thereafter taught school. In 1902 she ...
Caray, Harry: American sportscaster who gained national prominence for his telecasts of Chicago Cubs baseball games on Chicago-based superstation WGN during the 1980s and 1990s. [2 Related Articles]
Carayol, Michel: (from the article "nuclear weapon") ...strongly urged the CEA to find a solution and set 1968 as a deadline. Work at Limeil and at other labs in the CEA complex was stepped up as scientists ...
Carazo Odio, Rodrigo: president of Costa Rica (1978-82). [1 Related Articles]
carbamate: (from the article "Agricultural chemicals") The carbamates are a relatively new group of insecticides that includes such compounds as carbamyl, methomyl, and carbofuran. They are rapidly detoxified and eliminated from animal tissues. Their toxicity is ...
carbamazepine: (from the article "mental disorder") Carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant drug, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of mania and in the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. It may be combined with lithium in ...
carbamoyl phosphate: (from the article "metabolism") ...commonly called the urea cycle, is summarized as follows: Ammonia, formed from glutamate and NAD⁺ in the liver mitochondria (reaction [28]), reacts with carbon dioxide and ATP to form carbamoyl ...
carbamoyl phosphate synthetase: (from the article "metabolism") The reaction is catalyzed by carbamoyl phosphate synthetase. The carbamoyl moiety of carbamoyl phosphate (NH₂CO&singlehorzbond;) is transferred to ornithine, an amino acid, in a reaction catalyzed by ornithine transcarbamoylase; the ...
carbamoylaspartate: (from the article "metabolism") and carbamoyl phosphate (derived from carbon dioxide, ATP, and ammonia via reaction [30]) condense to form N-carbamoylaspartate [70], which loses water [71] in a reaction catalyzed by dihydroorotase; the product, ...
carbanion: any member of a class of organic compounds in which a negative electrical charge is located predominantly on a carbon atom. Carbanions are formally derived from neutral organic molecules by ...
carbaryl: (from the article "Agricultural chemicals") A wide range of organophosphate and carbamate materials is now available. These can be applied to avoid most of the problems related to residues. Malathion and carbaryl, for example, are ...
carbene: any member of a class of highly reactive molecules containing divalent carbon atoms-that is, carbon atoms that utilize only two of the four bonds they are capable of forming with ...
Carbet Mountains: volcanic mountain mass on the Caribbean island of Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles. The peaks are about 3.5 miles (6 km) from the west coast, standing between Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France. ... [1 Related Articles]
carbide: any of a class of chemical compounds in which carbon is combined with a metallic or semimetallic element. Calcium carbide is important chiefly as a source of acetylene and other ... [2 Related Articles]
carbide lamp: (from the article "mining") ...acetylene gas was generated by adding water to calcium carbide in the base of a lamp and then released through a jet in the centre of a bright metal reflector. ...
carbimazole: (from the article "hyperthyroidism") ...a chronic, even lifelong, disorder. It can be treated with an antithyroid drug, radioactive iodine, or surgery (thyroidectomy). There are three widely used antithyroid drugs-methimazole, carbimazole (which is rapidly converted ...
carbine: light, short-barrelled musket or rifle. The word, the source of which is obscure, seems to have originated in the late or mid-16th century. The carbine, in various versions corresponding to ... [1 Related Articles]
Carbo, Gaius Papirius: Roman politician who supported the agrarian reforms of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus but later deserted the Gracchan party.
Carbo, Gnaeus Papirius: Roman general, leader of the forces of Gaius Marius in the civil war between Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 87 he took part in Marius' blockade of Rome, which ...
carbocation: (from the article "organohalogen compound") ...and the term S_N1 (substitution-nucleophilic-unimolecular) is applied. The species formed in the slow step contains a positively charged, electron-deficient carbon and is called a carbocation. Carbocations are unstable and react ...
carbocyclic compound: (from the article "heterocyclic compound") The molecules of organic chemical compounds are built up from a framework or backbone of carbon atoms to which are attached hydrogen (H), oxygen, or other heteroatoms. Carbon atoms have ...
carbohydrate: class of naturally occurring compounds and derivatives formed from them. In the early part of the 19th century, substances such as wood, starch, and linen were found to be composed ... [31 Related Articles]
carbolic acid: (from the article "carbolic acid") simplest member of the phenol family of organic compounds. See phenol.for more general content related to this topicphenolphenols
Carbon: county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S., flanked to the north by the Pocono Mountains and to the south by Blue Mountain and located midway between the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Allentown. It ...
carbon: a nonmetallic chemical element in Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table. Although widely distributed in nature, carbon is not particularly plentiful (it makes up only about 0.025 percent of ... [56 Related Articles]
carbon adsorption: (from the article "environmental works") An effective method for removing dissolved organic substances that cause tastes, odours, or colours is adsorption by activated carbon. Adsorption is the capacity of a solid particle to attract molecules ...
carbon black: any of a group of intensely black, finely divided forms of amorphous carbon, usually obtained as soot from partial combustion of hydrocarbons, used principally as reinforcing agents in automobile tires ... [8 Related Articles]
carbon capture and storage: (from the article "Biofuels-The Next Great Source of Energy?") The distinctive promise of biofuels not shared by other forms of renewable energy, such as solar power, is that in combination with an emerging technology called carbon capture and storage, ...
carbon cycle: in biology, circulation of carbon in various forms through nature. Carbon is a constituent of all organic compounds, many of which are essential to life on Earth. The source of ... [12 Related Articles]
carbon cycle: sequence of thermonuclear reactions that provides most of the energy radiated by the hotter stars. It is only a minor source of energy for the Sun and does not operate ... [2 Related Articles]
carbon dioxide: (CO₂), a colourless gas having a faint, sharp odour and a sour taste; it is a minor component of the Earth's atmosphere (about 3 volumes in 10,000), formed in combustion ... [92 Related Articles]
carbon dioxide laser: (from the article "Major commercial lasers") ...krypton atoms that have been stripped of one or two electrons can generate milliwatts to watts of laser light at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. The most powerful commercial gas laser ...
carbon dioxide stunning: (from the article "meat processing") The three most common methods of stunning are mechanical, electrical, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas. The end result of each method is to render the animal unconscious. Mechanical stunning involves ...
carbon disulfide: a colourless, toxic, highly volatile and flammable liquid chemical compound, large amounts of which are used in the manufacture of viscose rayon, cellophane, and carbon tetrachloride; smaller quantities are employed ... [3 Related Articles]
carbon fibre: (from the article "materials science") The reinforcements used in composites are generally chosen for their high strength and modulus, as might be expected, but economic considerations often force compromises. For example, carbon fibres have extremely ...
carbon fixation: (from the article "photosynthesis") The assimilation of carbon into organic compounds is the result of a complex series of enzymatically regulated chemical reactions-the dark reactions. This term is something of a misnomer, for these ...
carbon group element: any of the five chemical elements that make up Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table-namely, carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), and lead (Pb). (See .) [1 Related Articles]
carbon microphone: (from the article "microphone") ...causes a corresponding change in some property of an electric circuit. Depending on the type of microphone, displacement of the diaphragm may cause variations in the resistance of a carbon ...
carbon monofluoride: (from the article "battery") The lithium-carbon monofluoride system has been among the more successful early commercial lithium miniature batteries. It has been used extensively in cameras and smaller devices, providing about 3.2 volts per ...
carbon monoxide: (CO), a highly toxic, colourless, odourless, flammable gas produced industrially for use in the manufacture of numerous organic and inorganic chemical products; it is also present in the exhaust gases ... [20 Related Articles]
carbon monoxide poisoning: (from the article "hypoxia") ...amount of hemoglobin is too small to supply the body's oxygen needs, as in anemia or after severe bleeding, or hemoglobin that is present is rendered nonfunctional. Examples of the ...
carbon nanotube: (from the article "Physical Sciences") Carbon nanotubes-minute stringlike structures of carbon atoms bonded together in a hexagonal framework-are mechanically strong and have interesting electrical properties. In 2006 nanotubes were the hot new material for a ...
carbon neutral: (from the article "New Zealand") ...sustainable" country underpinned strategies announced in 2007 by Prime Minister Helen Clark. In her formal statement to the House of Representatives on February 13, Clark declared plans for a carbon-neutral ...
carbon nucleophile: (from the article "aldehyde") A wide variety of carbon nucleophiles add to aldehydes, and such reactions are of prime importance in synthetic organic chemistry because the product is a combination of two carbon skeletons. ...
carbon oxide: (from the article "oxide") Carbon forms two well-known oxides, carbon monoxide, CO, and carbon dioxide, CO₂. In addition, it also forms carbon suboxide, C₃O₂.carbon dioxidecarbon monoxide
carbon sequestration: (from the article "global warming") The rate at which tropical regions are deforested is also relevant to the process of carbon sequestration (see Carbon cycle feedbacks), the long-term storage of carbon in underground cavities and ...
carbon sink: (from the article "climate change") ...near plate margins have influenced atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations throughout Earth's history. Even the chemical weathering of rock constitutes an important sink for carbon dioxide. (A carbon sink is any ...
carbon skeleton: (from the article "aldehyde") A wide variety of carbon nucleophiles add to aldehydes, and such reactions are of prime importance in synthetic organic chemistry because the product is a combination of two carbon skeletons. ...
carbon steel: metal manufactured from the elements iron and carbon, with the carbon imparting hardness and strength and determining the degree to which such physical properties exist. See steel. [2 Related Articles]
carbon suboxide: (from the article "oxide") Carbon suboxide, C₃O₂, is a foul-smelling lacrimatory (tear-stimulating) gas produced by the dehydration of malonic acid, CH₂(COOH)₂, with P₄O₁₀ in a vacuum at 140 to 150 °C (284 to 302 ...
carbon tetrachloride: a colourless, dense, highly toxic, volatile, nonflammable liquid possessing a characteristic odour and belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds, used principally in the manufacture of dichlorodifluoromethane (a refrigerant ... [2 Related Articles]
carbon tissue: (from the article "photoengraving") ...engraving and printing. Karl Klic (also spelled Klietsch) of Bohemia, who was instrumental in making photogravure a practical commercial process, in 1878 exposed a positive transparency over carbon tissue, a ...
carbon transmitter: (from the article "telephone and telephone system") ...prompted a number of inventors to pursue further work in this area. Among them was Thomas Alva Edison, whose 1886 design for a voice transmitter consisted of a cavity filled ...
carbon-12: (from the article "carbon") ...in nature, carbon is not particularly plentiful (it makes up only about 0.025 percent of the Earth's crust); yet it forms more compounds than all the other elements combined. In ...
carbon-13: (from the article "carbon") Carbon has two stable isotopes, carbon-12 (which makes up 98.89 percent of natural carbon) and carbon-13 (1.11 percent); 12 radioactive isotopes are known, of which the longest-lived is carbon-14, which ...
carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: (from the article "chemical compound") Naturally occurring carbon is composed almost entirely of the carbon-12 isotope, which has no magnetic moment and thus is not detectable by NMR techniques. However, carbon-13 (¹³C) atoms, which make ...
carbon-14: (from the article "Values for the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of certain radionuclides") Different isotopes tend to concentrate in particular organs: for example, iodine-131 settles in the thyroid gland and can reveal a variety of defects in thyroid functioning. Another isotope, carbon-14, is ...