Aspidelaps Aspidelaps is a genus of venomous snake Elapidae snakes found in Africa. They are commonly called shield-nosed cobras after their cobra-hoods and enlarged rostral scales. However, the hood is not nearly as well developed in Aspidelaps as it is in Naja.
	Aspidistra Aspidistra is a genus of seven species of herbaceous plants in the family Ruscaceae, formerly treated in either the Liliaceae or the Convallariaceae. They are native to southern China and the eastern Himalaya. They are tough plants with strap-shaped leathery dark green leaves, growing up to 1 m tall.
	Aspirator An aspirator, also called an ejector, is a device that produces vacuum by means of the Venturi effect. In an aspirator, fluid flows through a tube which then narrows. When the tube narrows, the fluid's speed increases, and because of the Venturi effect, its pressure decreases.
	Aspirin Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a Medication in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic , antipyretic , and anti-inflammation. It has also an anticoagulant effect and is used in long-term low-doses to prevent heart attacks.
	Aspleniaceae The Aspleniaceae is a family of ferns, the only family in the order Aspleniales. Members of the family all have intramarginal, linear sorus with a flap-like indusium arising along one edge. Most workers today consider this family of solely consisting of the genus Asplenium.
	Asplenium Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, commonly treated as the only genus in the family Aspleniaceae, though some species are occasionally segregated into their own genera. Common names include spleenwort, bird's-nest fern, with other distinct names applied to a few individual species.
	Asplenium nidus Asplenium nidus is a species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae, native to tropical southeastern Asia, northern Queensland in Australia, Hawaii, Polynesia, Christmas Island, India, and eastern Africa. It is one of several closely related species known by the common name Bird's Nest Fern.
	Assailant Assailant is a sweden metal band formed in 2004 and currently on the label Dockyard 1. Their debut album Nemesis Within was released in may 2006.
	Assam Assam now renamed to Asom is a North-East India state of India with its capital at Dispur. Located just below the eastern Himalaya foothills, it is surrounded by the other northeastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya.
	Assassination Assassination is the deliberate killing of an important person, usually a political figure or other strategically important individual. An assassin or the assassin's employer usually has an ideology or politics agenda, and regards the target as an obstacle to furthering his agenda.
	Assault gun An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions. Historically the custom-built fully armored assault guns usually mounted the gun or howitzer in a fully enclosed casemate on a tank chassis.
	Assault rifle Assault rifle is a term describing a type of automatic weapon generally defined as a selective fire rifle or carbine, chambering intermediate-powered ammunition. They are categorized between the larger and heavier light machine gun, which is intended more for sustained automatic fire in a support role, and the smaller submachine gun, which fires a handgun cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.
	Assay An assay is a procedure where the concentration of a component part of a mixture is determined. There are numerous applications of an assay, such as an antigen capture assay, bioassay, competitive protein binding assay, four-point assay, immunoassay, microbiological assay, stem cell assay, and many others.
	Assegai An assegai or assagai is a weapon for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron. It was exported to the Iberian peninsula and was used up through the gunpowder period; for example, the 14th century Catalan Christian foot mercenaries called the Almogavars wielded this weapon to great effect throughout southern Europe and the Levant.
	Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with approximately 52.5 million worldwide who are members of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship as of 2005. In the year 2000, the Assemblies of God World Congress reported 107 fraternal fellowships and 10,000 converts a day worldwide .
	Assembly line An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods. The best known form of the assembly line, the moving assembly line, was realized into practice by Ford Motor Company between 1908 and 1915, and made famous in the following decade by the social ramifications of mass production, such as the affordability of the Ford Model T
	Assessment Assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. This article covers educational assessment including the work of institutional researchers, but the term applies to other fields as well including health and finance.
	Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organization of countries located in Southeast Asia. ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967 by the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, as a display of solidarity against communism expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders.
	Assumption of Mary According to Catholicism doctrine and the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united.
	Assyria Assyria in earliest historical times referred to a region on the Upper Tigris river, named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. Later, as a nation and Empire, it also came to include roughly the northern half of Mesopotamia the capital being Nineveh. Assyria proper was located in a mountainous region, extending along the Tigris as far as the high Gordiaean or Carduchian mountain range of Armenia, sometimes called the "Mountains of Ashur".
	Astacidae The Family Astacidae comprises the freshwater crayfish native to Europe and western North America. It is made up of three genus. Pacifastacus is found on the Pacific Ocean of the United States and British Columbia and includes the signal crayfish and the Shasta crayfish.
	Astacus ---- Astacus is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three species. Due to the American crayfish plague, crayfish of this genus have been almost wiped out in Europe and have in many European countries been replaced by the North American signal crayfish, which is more resistant to the plague.
	Astana Astana , estimated population of 600,000 , is the second largest city and the capital of Kazakhstan since 1998. The name "Astana", which in Kazakh language means "Capital city", was allegedly chosen because it is easily pronounced in many languages. However, in Kazakh, it is pronounced "As-ta-na", while in English , common pronunciation is "As-ta-na".
	Astarte Astarte is the name of a major goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic languages regions, cognate in name, origin and functions with the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamian texts. Another transliteration is Ashtart; other names for the goddess include Hebrew language or Phoenician languages ?????, Ugaritic language ?trt, and Akkadian language 'dAs-tar-t.
	Aster tripolium Aster tripolium is a plant of northern Europe which is confined in its distribution to saltmarshes, estuaries and occasionally to inland salt works. It is a perennial growing up to 50 centimetre tall with fleshy lanceolate leaves and purple ray florets flowering from July to September.
	Asteraceae The family Asteraceae or, alternatively, family Compositae, known as the aster, daisy or sunflower family, is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants. The family name is derived from the genus Aster and refers to the star-shaped flower head of its members, typified well by the Bellis perennis.
	Asteridae Asteridae is a botanical name at the rank of Subclass. of the subclass has varied with the being used but by definition always includes the family Asteraceae. Wikipedia has adopted the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system which does not use formal botanical names above the rank of order.
	Asterisk An asterisk is a typographical symbol or glyph. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star . Computer scientists often pronounce it as star . The asterisk is sometimes mistakenly referred to as an asterix, in a case of reverse etymology. The asterisk derives from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth.
	Asteroid Asteroid, minor planet, and planetoid are synonyms, and are used to indicate a diverse group of small celestial bodies that drift in the solar system in orbit around the Sun. Asteroid is the word used most in the English literature for minor planets, which has been the term preferred by the International Astronomical Union; some other languages prefer planetoid .
	Asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system falling roughly between the planets Mars and Jupiter where the greatest concentration of asteroid orbits can be found. It is termed the main belt when contrasted with other concentrations of minor planets, since these may also be termed asteroid belts.
	Asthma Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system in which the Lung constrict, become inflamed, and are lined with excessive amounts of mucus, often in response to one or more "triggers," such as exposure to an environmental stimulant , cold air, exercise, or emotional stress .
	Astigmatism In optics, astigmatism is when an optical system has different focus for ray that propagate in two perpendicular Plane. If an optical system with astigmatism is used to form an image of a cross, the vertical and horizontal lines will be in sharp focus at two different distances.
	Astilbe Astilbe is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants, within the family Saxifragaceae. Some species are commonly known as False Goat's Beard, and False Spirea. Astilbe species are native to east and south Asia. They are cultivated by gardeners as hardy herbaceous perennials, for their large handsome, often fern-like foliage, and dense, feathery plumes of flowers.
	Astragal An astragal is molding profile composed of a half round surface surrounded by two flat plains. An astragal is sometimes referred to as a miniature torus. It can be an architecture element used at the top or base of a column, but is also employed as a framing device on furniture and woodwork.
	Astragalus Astragalus is a large genus of about 2,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milk-vetch and goat's-thorn.
	Astrakhan Astrakhan, a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea. Estimated 2004 population: 502,800. The 2002 census population was 504,501.
	Astrantia Astrantia is a genus of Eurasian herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae. These species have aromatic roots, leaf shape leaves, and decorative flowers. They are commonly known as great masterwort, which may be confused with masterwort, Peucedanum ostruthium.
	Astraphobia Astraphobia also known as Brontophobia, Ceraunophobia, or Tonitrophobia is fear of thunder and lightning. It is especially common in young children. Symptoms include panic attack, difficulty in breathing, rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, and nausea. Sometimes these feelings can be overwhelming.
	Astrodynamics Astrodynamics is the study of the motion of rockets, missiles, and space vehicles, as determined from Sir Isaac Newton's Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. It is a specific and distinct branch of celestial mechanics, which focuses more broadly on Newtonian gravitation and includes the orbital motions of artificial and natural astronomical bodies such as planets, moons, and comets.
	Astrolabe The astrolabe is a historical astronomical Measuring instrument used by classical astronomy and astrologers. It was the chief navigational instrument until the invention of the sextant in the 18th century. Its many uses included locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars; determining local time given local longitude and vice-versa; surveying; and triangulation.
	Astrology Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the relative positions of astronomical object and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial events.
	Astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that deals with the positions of stars and other celestial body, their distances and movements. It is one of the oldest subfields of the science, the successor to the more qualitative study of positional astronomy. Astrometry dates back at least to Hipparchus , who compiled the first Star catalogue visible to him and in doing so invented the Apparent magnitude basically still in use today.
	Astronaut An astronaut, cosmonaut , spationaut or taikonaut is a person who space travel, or who makes a career of doing so. The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary . In the United States, people who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometres are designated as astronauts.
	Astronomer An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics.
	Astronomy Astronomy is the science of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology.
	Astrophysics Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of astronomical objects such as stars, galaxy, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. The study of Physical cosmology is theoretical astrophysics at the largest scales.
	Asunción Asuncin, population 1,639,000 , is the capital of Paraguay. Its metropolitan area, named Gran Asuncin, includes the cities of San Lorenzo , Fernando de la Mora, Lambar, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, emby and Villa Elisa; having more than 1.5 1000000 inhabitants.
	Aswan Aswan is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist center. swan is one of the driest inhabited places in the world; as of early 2001, the last rain there was 6 years earlier.
	Aswan Dam Aswan is a city on the first Cataracts of the Nile of the Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the river at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam, and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam. Without impoundment the Nile would flood each year during summer, as waters from East Africa flowed down the river.
	Asymmetry Asymmetry is both the absence of symmetry, and a fundamental basis for symmetry. Symmetry analysis may result in the identification of a fundamental region that is the smallest element required to explain the repetition that forms a pattern. The fundamental region is asymmetrical. While symmetry is a characteristic of geometrical shapes, equations, and other objects; as well as things that are in nature, asymmetry is fundamental feature of natural processes.
	Asymptote An asymptote is a straight line or curve A to which another curve B approaches closer and closer as one moves along it. As one moves along B, the space between it and the asymptote A becomes smaller and smaller, and can in fact be made as small as one could wish by going far enough along.
	At Close Range At Close Range is based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston, Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s. The film was released April 18 1986, starring Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Millie Perkins, Candy Clark and Crispin Glover.
	At First Sight At First Sight is a 1999 in film United States film, based on the essay To See and Not to See in neurologist Oliver Sacks' book An Anthropologist on Mars.
	At Home At Home, an album by Cherish the Ladies, was released in 1999 on the RCA label.
	Atactic In atactic macromolecules every substituent belonging to a repeating unit is placed randomly at either side of the backbone. This form of tacticity is often observed for polymers obtained by free radical polymerization.
	Atakapa The Atakapa were a Southeastern tribes of Native Americans in the United States tribes and with a common language that lived along the Gulf of Mexico. Their territory ranged from the Trinity River and Galveston Bay in Texas to Bayou Teche and Vermillion Bay in Louisiana.
	Atar Atar is the Zoroastrianism concept for "burning and unburning fire" and "visible and invisible fire". In an unrestricted sense, atar is heat - that is, thermal energy, manifest as fire or other luminous source when visible. In this sense, atar is an attribute of sources of heat and light, an adjectival form of nominative singular atarsh.
	Aten Aten is a Creator god of the universe in ancient Egyptian mythology, usually regarded as a sun god represented by the sun's disk. His worship was instituted as the basis for the mostly monotheism in fact, monism religion of Amenhotep IV, who took the name Akhenaten.
	Atheism Atheism, in its broadest sense, is the absence of belief in the existence of deity. A narrower definition includes only those who believe that deities do not exist, and excludes those who hold no position on the question . In other words, an "atheist" can be defined as either:
	Athena In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war. Athena's wisdom encompasses the technical knowledge employed in weaving, metal-working, and war, but also includes the cunning intelligence of such trickster figures as Odysseus. She is attended by an Little Owl, wears a goatskin breastplate called the Aegis given to her by her father, Zeus, and is accompanied by the goddess of victory, Nike .
	Athens Athens is the capital and the largest city of Greece. Named after goddess Athena, Athens is a bustling, cosmopolitan metropolis with a population of 3.7 million people. The Athens metropolitan area is currently growing both northwards and eastwards across Attica and it constitutes the dominant center of economic, financial, industrial, cultural and political life in Greece.
	Atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting the artery blood vessel. It is commonly referred to as a "hardening" or "furring" of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple atheroma within the arteries. anatomical pathology, the atheroma is divided into three distinct components:
	Athlete's foot Athlete's foot or tinea pedis is a fungus infection of the skin, usually between the toes, caused by parasitic fungus.
	Athyriaceae Athyriaceae is a family of 12-15 genera of terrestrial ferns, with a cosmopolitan distribution. ;Selected genera: *Acystopteris *Anisocampium *Athyrium *Cornopteris *Cystopteris *Deparia *Diplaziopsis *Diplazium *Gymnocarpium
	Athyrium Athyrium is a genus of about 180 species of terrestrial ferns, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Athyrium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Small Angle Shades and Sthenopis. ;Selected species:
	Athyrium filix-femina Athyrium filix-femina is a species of fern native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, where it is often abundant in damp, shady woodland environments. The plant grows as single stalks rising from the ground unbranched each holding a single frond. The fronds are light yellow-green, 20-90 cm long and 5-25 cm broad; they are deciduous, lasting for only one summer; during winter, they die back and leave a large rhizome patch that will resume growth the next year.
	Atlantic bonito The Atlantic bonito, Sarda sarda is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean where it is an important commercial and game fish.
	Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod is a well-known seafood belonging to the family Gadidae. It grows to two metres in length. Coloring is brown to green on the Dorsum side, shading to silver ventrally. Its habitat ranges from the shoreline down to the continental shelf.
	Atlantic halibut The Atlantic halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus, is a flatfish in the family Pleuronectidae. It is one of the largest of flatfish, growing to 3 m in length and 320 kg in weight. It is native to temperate waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean, where it lives in coastal waters and on the continental shelf down to a depth of 2,000 m.
	Atlantic herring Atlantic herring Clupea harengus is the one of the most abundant species of fish on the planet. They can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean congregating together in large schools or. They can grow up to 1 E-1 m in length and weigh more than half a kilogram.