(Encyclopedia) leafhopper, common name for small, wedge-shaped leaping insects, cosmopolitan in distribution, belonging to the family Cicadellidae, which comprises some 5,500 species of insects. Some…
(Encyclopedia) oxpecker, common name for an African starling of the genus Buphagus. Also known as tickbirds, oxpeckers have very short legs and sharp claws, which aid them in perching on the backs of…
(Encyclopedia) smogsmogsmŏg [key] [smoke+fog], dense, visible air pollution. Smog is commonly of two types. The gray smog of older industrial cities like London and New York derives from the massive…
(Encyclopedia) grouse, common name for a game bird of the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 18 species. Grouse are henlike terrestrial birds, protectively plumaged in shades of…
(Encyclopedia) Blair, Tony (Anthony Charles Lynton Blair), 1953–, British politician, b. Edinburgh. An Oxford-educated lawyer, he was first elected to Parliament in 1983 as the Labour party candidate…
(Encyclopedia) Newsom, Gavin Christopher, 1967– American businessman and politician, b. San Francisco. He was a cofounder (1991) of the PlumpJack Group, whose businesses grew from a wine store to…
(Encyclopedia) birthmark, pigmented maldevelopment of the skin that varies in size, either present at birth or developing later. Birthmarks may appear as moles (melanocytic nevi) that vary in color…
(Encyclopedia) cassiteritecassiteritekəsĭtˈərīt [key], heavy, brown-to-black mineral, tin oxide, SnO2, crystallizing in the tetragonal system. It is found as short prismatic crystals and as irregular…
