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  • vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (technology)
    ...action if it is inside a suitable cavity. Conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers have mirrors on opposite edges of the p-n junction, so light oscillates in the junction plane. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have mirrors above and below the p-n junction, so light resonates perpendicular to the junction. The wavelength depends on the......
  • vertical-hold control (television)
    ...brightness of the picture; (5) a horizontal-hold control, which adjusts the horizontal deflection generator so that it conforms exactly to the control of the horizontal synchronizing impulses; (6) a vertical-hold control, which performs the same function for the vertical deflection generator; (7) a hue (or “tint”) control, which shifts all the hues in the reproduced image; and (8)...
  • vertical-lift bridge (architecture)
    either a drawbridge, a vertical-lift bridge, a transporter bridge, or a swing (pivot) bridge. The drawbridge, or bascule, is the best known; it may be single- or double-leafed. It originated in medieval Europe, probably Normandy, as a defensive feature of castles and towns. It was operated by a counterweight and winch. The drawbridge that formed one span of Old London Bridge was occasionally......
  • verticality (optics)
    In studies of visual verticality, experimenters investigated the conditions that determine perception of the “upright.” A tilted chair that could be mechanically controlled by the subject was placed in a slanted room containing visual indicators of verticals and horizontals. When various persons were asked to sit in the chair and align themselves in a vertical position, some of the.....
  • vertically homogeneous estuary (oceanography)
    In a vertically homogeneous estuary the river flow is weak and the tidal flow is strong (Figure 1). Consequently, all stratification is broken down and salinity is almost the same from top to bottom at any given place. The salinity is lowest where the river enters the estuary and highest near the sea....
  • vertically mixed estuary (oceanography)
    In a vertically homogeneous estuary the river flow is weak and the tidal flow is strong (Figure 1). Consequently, all stratification is broken down and salinity is almost the same from top to bottom at any given place. The salinity is lowest where the river enters the estuary and highest near the sea....
  • verticillaster (botany)
    ...Many monocotyledons have a one-sided cyme called a helicoid cyme (see photograph). A cymose inflorescence arranged in pairs at the nodes, in the manner of a false whorl, is called a verticillaster (see photograph). Finally, there are mixed inflorescences, as, for instance, the cymose clusters arranged in a racemose manner (e.g., lilac, Syringa vulgaris; Oleaceae) or other......
  • Verticillium albo-atrum (fungus)
    ...in cool climates. It affects several hundred species of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, house plants, vegetables, fruits, field crops, and weeds. The causal agent is the soil-inhabiting fungus Verticillium albo-atrum (V. dahliae). In hot weather, the leaves on one or more branches turn dull green to yellow, wilt, and wither, often from the base upward. Annuals and young trees......
  • Verticillium wilt (plant disease)
    Verticillium wilt is a very destructive fungal disease in cool climates. It affects several hundred species of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, house plants, vegetables, fruits, field crops, and weeds. The causal agent is the soil-inhabiting fungus Verticillium albo-atrum (V. dahliae). In hot weather, the leaves on one or more branches turn dull green to yellow, wilt, and......
  • vertigo (physiology)
    sensation that a person’s surroundings are rotating or that he himself is revolving. Usually the state produces dizziness, mental bewilderment, and confusion. If the sensation is intense enough, the person may become nauseated and vomit....
  • Vertisol (FAO soil group)
    one of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Vertisols are characterized by a clay-size-particle content of 30 percent or more by mass in all horizons (layers) of the upper half-metre of the soil profile, by cracks at least 1 cm (0.4 inch) wide extending downward from the land surface, and by evidence o...
  • Vertisol (United States soil order)
    one of the 12 soil orders in the U.S. Soil Taxonomy. Vertisols are clay-rich soils that undergo significant vertical cracking during the dry seasons. Typically forming under grassland vegetation in basin or rolling hill landscapes, they are best suited for use as pastureland and for the cultivation of plants, such as rice, that thrive in standing surface water...
  • Vertol Corporation (American company)
    In 1960 Boeing purchased Vertol Corporation, then the world’s largest independent manufacturer of helicopters. As Boeing Helicopters, the unit focused on tandem-rotor helicopters and was responsible for the development of the CH-47 Chinook and CH-46 Sea Knight military transport helicopters (first flown in 1961 and 1962, respectively). Boeing’s work on missiles, which began in 1945, ...
  • Vertomannus, Lodovico de (Italian adventurer)
    intrepid Italian traveler and adventurer whose account of his Middle Eastern and Asiatic wanderings was widely circulated throughout Europe and earned him high fame in his own lifetime. He made significant discoveries (especially in Arabia) and made many valuable observations of the peoples he visited; his ready wit enabled him to handle difficult situations....
  • Vertov, Dziga (Soviet director)
    Soviet motion-picture director whose kino-glaz (“film-eye”) theory—that the camera is an instrument, much like the human eye, that is best used to explore the actual happenings of real life—had an international impact on the development of documentaries and cinema realism during the 1920s. He attempted to create a unique language of the cinema,...
  • Vertue (poem by Herbert)
    ...part of prosodical study is concerned with the varieties of metre, the nature and function of rhyme, and the ways in which lines of verse fall into regular patterns or stanzas. An analysis of “Vertue” by the 17th-century English poet George Herbert reveals how the elements of prosody combine into a complex organism, a life sustained by the technical means available to the......
  • Vertue, George (British antiquarian and engraver)
    British antiquarian and engraver known primarily for his portraits and book illustrations. Though not acclaimed a great artist, Vertue left a body of work that has great historical value, including notes and memorandums that were to go into his planned History of the Arts in England. His collections were purchased after his death by Horace Walpole and formed the basis of ...
  • Verulam, Francis Bacon, Baron of (British author, philosopher, and statesman)
    lord chancellor of England (1618–21). A lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, he is remembered in literary terms for the sharp worldly wisdom of a few dozen essays; by students of constitutional history for his power as a speaker in Parliament and in famous trials and as James I’s lord chancellor; and intellectually as a man who claimed all knowledge as hi...
  • Verulamium (ancient city, England, United Kingdom)
    pre-Roman and Romano-British town in the territory of the Catuvellauni, across the River Ver from what is now St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England....
  • Verurteilung des Lukullus, Die (opera by Dessau)
    ...Courage and Her Children), the most popular of the Brecht-Dessau works. From 1948, they continued their partnership in East Germany, where Dessau composed his most successful opera, Die Verurteilung des Lukullus (1949; “The Sentencing of Lucullus”; also called Das Verhör des Lukullus [“The Trial of Lucullus”]), with libretto by Brecht.......
  • Verus, Lucius (Roman emperor)
    Roman emperor jointly (161–169) with Marcus Aurelius. Though he enjoyed equal constitutional status and powers, he did not have equal authority, nor did he seem capable of bearing his share of the responsibilities....
  • Vervain family (plant)
    family of plants, in the order Lamiales, a worldwide but mainly tropical grouping of 30 genera and some 1,100 species, some of which are important for their flowers. Members of the family, sometimes known as Verbena or Vervain, have opposite or whorled leaves that are usually undivided. The flowers are aggregated in spikes, clusters, or racem...
  • vervet (monkey)
    ground-dwelling guenon monkey that is widely distributed in the savannas of Africa....
  • Verviers (Belgium)
    ...this created an atmosphere favourable to the development of industrial capitalism. During this period Ghent, Antwerp, and Tournai had factories with more than 100 workers; wages, however, were poor. Verviers, in the principality of Liège, was an important centre for woolen manufactures, Ghent for cotton goods....
  • Verville, Béroalde de (French writer)
    In the early 17th century Béroalde de Verville placed his own Rabelaisian tales within a banquet frame in a collection called Le Moyen de parvenir, “The Way of Succeeding” (c. 1610). Showing great narrative skill, Béroalde’s stories are still very much in the tradition of Boccaccio; as a collection of framed stories, their main intent is to amuse and diver...
  • Vervins, Treaty of (French-Spanish history)
    ...became a struggle against Spanish forces intervening on behalf of Isabella Clara Eugenia, the daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth of Valois, who also laid claim to the French throne. The Peace of Vervins (1598), by which Spain recognized Henry IV’s title as king, and the Edict of Nantes of the same year, which granted substantial religious toleration to the Huguenots, ended the ...
  • Vervoort, Michel (Flemish sculptor)
    ...of Rastatt (1714) the territories passed to Austria. Eighteenth-century painting and sculpture became increasingly weak and provincial, though fantastic pulpits carved by Hendrik Frans Verbruggen, Michel Vervoort, and Theodor Verhaegen provide a remarkable parallel to those in central Europe....
  • “Verwandlung, Die” (story by Kafka)
    ...metaphor of a common figure of speech is taken literally. Thus in The Judgment a son unquestioningly commits suicide at the behest of his aged father. In The Metamorphosis the son wakes up to find himself transformed into a monstrous and repulsive insect; he slowly dies, not only because of his family’s shame and its neglect of him but be...
  • Verwey, Albert (Dutch poet)
    Dutch poet, scholar, and literary historian who played an important role in the literary life of The Netherlands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
  • Verwoerd, Hendrik Frensch (prime minister of South Africa)
    South African professor, editor, and statesman who as prime minister (1958–66) rigorously applied a policy of apartheid....
  • Véry (restaurant, Paris, France)
    During the Napoleonic era the Palais-Royal, the colonnaded, tree-lined area adjacent the Louvre, became the site of many of the finest restaurants in Paris. The menu of the Véry, a leading restaurant of the era, listed a dozen soups, two dozen fish dishes, 15 beef entrées, 20 mutton entrées, and scores of side dishes. The novelist Honoré de Balzac often dined at the......
  • Very, Jones (American poet and mystic)
    American Transcendentalist poet and Christian mystic....
  • Very Large Array (telescope, New Mexico, United States)
    radio telescope system situated on the plains of San Agustin near Socorro, New Mexico, U.S. The VLA went into operation in 1980 and is the most powerful radio telescope in the world. It is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory....
  • Very Large Telescope (telescope, Paranal, Chile)
    ESO operates at three sites in Chile—the La Silla Observatory, located about 600 km (370 miles) north of Santiago at an altitude of 2,400 metres (7,900 feet), the Very Large Telescope (Paranal Observatory) on Paranal, a 2,600-metre- (8,500-foot-) high mountain about 130 km (80 miles) south of Antofagasta, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) located about 50 km (30......
  • very large-scale integration (electronics)
    The process of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuit design involves a number of stages, which characteristically are as follows: (1) creating the initial functional or behavioral specification, (2) encoding this specification into a hardware description language, (3) breaking down the design into modules and generating sizes and shapes for the eventual chip components, and (4) chip......
  • Very Long Baseline Array (astronomy)
    The Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) consists of ten 25-metre (82-foot) dishes spread across the United States from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii. The VLBA operates at wavelengths from 3 mm (0.1 inch) to 1 metre (3 feet) and is used to study quasars, galactic nuclei, cosmic masers, pulsars, and radio stars with a resolution as good as 0.0001 arc second, or more than 100 times better than that of......
  • very long baseline interferometry (astronomy)
    In conventional interferometers and arrays, coaxial cable, waveguide, or even fibre-optic links are used to distribute a common local-oscillator reference signal to each antenna and also to return the received signal from an individual antenna to a central laboratory where it is correlated with the signals from other antennas. In cases in which antennas are spaced more than a few tens of......
  • very low frequency (frequency band)
    ...the radio spectrum above 30 megahertz was virtually empty of man-made signals. Today, civilian radio signals populate the radio spectrum in eight frequency bands, ranging from very low frequency (VLF), starting at 3 kilohertz, and extending to extremely high frequency (EHF), ending at 300 gigahertz. The commercial radio spectrum and its applications are illustrated in Figure 3....
  • very small aperture terminal (communications)
    ...diameter. Today thousands of cable operators obtain television, radio, and other program feeds from GEO broadcast satellites through a 1.5- to 3-metre antenna dish mounted on a tower or roof. In the very small aperture terminal (VSAT) network, used mainly for commercial data communication, GEO satellites serve as the central relay between a terrestrial hub and a wide-area network of small and.....
  • very-high-frequency (communications)
    conventionally defined portion of the electromagnetic spectrum including any radiation with a wavelength between 1 and 10 metres and a frequency between 300 and 30 megahertz. VHF signals are widely employed for television and radio transmissions. In the United States and Canada, television stations that broadcast on channels...
  • very-high-frequency omnidirectional radio range (communications)
    Modern very-high-frequency omnidirectional range (VOR) has been developed in various forms since about 1930. It transmits two signals simultaneously in all directions. Operating in the very high frequency (VHF) range, it is less subject than the lower-frequency radio range to disturbances by day-night alternation, weather, and other causes. The two simultaneously emitted signals have a......
  • very-long-chain fatty acid (chemical compound)
    Peroxisomes are cytoplasmic organelles that play a central role in the catabolism of very-long-chain fatty acids and other compounds through the process of beta-oxidation. They also are critical in the biosynthesis of important cellular membrane constituents (plasmalogens), cholesterol, and bile acids. Unlike mitochondria, peroxisomes do not contain DNA, therefore all of the components of their......
  • very-low-calorie diet
    ...should be similar to those used by nonobese persons but with fewer calories—namely, a low-fat diet that avoids high-calorie foods. One of the most popular and successful of these diets is the very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) that results in rapid fat loss while minimizing the loss of lean muscle tissue. These diets require supplementation with potassium and a vitamin-mineral complex. Fad......
  • very-low-density lipoprotein (physiology)
    VLDL is a lipoprotein class synthesized by the liver that is analogous to the chylomicrons secreted by the intestine. Its purpose is also to deliver triglycerides, cholesteryl esters, and cholesterol to peripheral tissues. VLDL is largely depleted of its triglyceride content in these tissues and gives rise to an intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) remnant, which is returned to the liver in......
  • Verzamelde opstellen (work by Deyssel)
    ...largely agnostic individualistic group associated with the avant-garde literary magazine De nieuwe gids (“The New Guide”). His passionate critical writings were published as Verzamelde opstellen, 11 vol. (1894–1911; “Collected Essays”). He began writing as an admirer of Émile Zola and published a naturalistic novel, Een liefde (1887...
  • Verzelini, Jacopo (Italian craftsman)
    ...glasshouses as a selling line was substantial. The earliest notable glass made in England other than primitive forest glass was façon de Venise; a Venetian émigré, Jacopo Verzelini (1522–1606), produced it in London from 1573 and was granted a royal privilege for glassmaking in 1575. He had been preceded by eight Venetian workers who had established......
  • verzuiling (religion)
    One of the characteristic aspects of modern Dutch society began to evolve in this period—the vertical separation of society into “pillars” (zuilen) identified with the different Dutch religions. Calvinist Protestantism became the officially recognized religion of the country, politically favoured and economically supported by government......
  • Vesaas, Tarjei (Norwegian author)
    Norwegian novelist and short-story writer whose symbolic and allegorical narratives won him much recognition in Norway and other European countries....
  • Vesak (Buddhist festival)
    most important of the Theravada Buddhist festivals, commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. The event is observed on the full-moon day of the lunar month Vesakha, which falls in April or May. The day is observed as a public holiday in many Southeast Asian countries. It is marked by special devotional services and various deeds intended to be meritorious, such as the presen...
  • Vesakha (Buddhist festival)
    most important of the Theravada Buddhist festivals, commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. The event is observed on the full-moon day of the lunar month Vesakha, which falls in April or May. The day is observed as a public holiday in many Southeast Asian countries. It is marked by special devotional services and various deeds intended to be meritorious, such as the presen...
  • Vēsalī (India)
    city of ancient India, north of Patna, northwestern Bihār state, on the Gandak River. In antiquity Vaiśālī was the capital of the Licchavi republic and was closely associated with the early histories of both Buddhism and Jainism. Roads connected it with Rājagṛha to the south and Kapilavastu and Śrāvastī to the north....
  • Vesalius, Andreas (Belgian physician)
    Renaissance Flemish physician who revolutionized the study of biology and the practice of medicine by his careful description of the anatomy of the human body. Basing his observations on dissections he made himself, he wrote and illustrated the first comprehensive textbook of anatomy....
  • Vescera (Algeria)
    town, northeastern Algeria, on the northern edge of the Sahara. It is the centre of the Zab (Ziban) group of oases south of a wide, open depression between the Aurès Massif and the Tell Atlas....
  • Vesco, Robert Lee (American financier)
    American financier, once considered the boy wonder of international finance, who later became a fugitive from U.S. and other legal authorities. He was a key figure in certain American financial and political scandals of the early 1970s....
  • Vesey, Denmark (American freed slave and insurrectionist)
    self-educated black who planned the most extensive slave revolt in U.S. history (Charleston, 1822)....
  • Vesey-Fitzgerald, William (British politician)
    ...however, he collided head-on with the Huskissonites on parliamentary reform; the whole group resigned in May. A further crisis immediately arose during the by-election in Clare, Ireland, where William Vesey-Fitzgerald, Huskisson’s ministerial successor, defending his seat, was defeated by Daniel O’Connell, the Irish Catholic leader. The defeat of Vesey-Fitzgerald, a popular pro-Ca...
  • vesical artery (anatomy)
    The blood supply of the bladder is derived from the superior, middle, and inferior vesical (bladder) arteries. The superior vesical artery supplies the dome of the bladder, and one of its branches (in males) gives off the artery to the ductus deferens, a part of the passageway for sperm. The middle vesical artery supplies the base of the bladder. The inferior vesical artery supplies the......
  • vesical schistosomiasis (disease)
    ...and Indonesia. (2) Manson’s, or intestinal, schistosomiasis is caused by S. mansoni, found in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and northern South America. (3) Vesical, or urinary, schistosomiasis is caused by S. haematobium, found throughout Africa and the Middle East....
  • vesicle (blister)
    a rounded elevation of the skin containing clear fluid, caused by a separation either between layers of the epidermis or between the epidermis and the dermis. Blisters are classified as vesicles if they are 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) or less in diameter and as bullae if they are larger. Blisters can commonly result from pressure and friction on sites such as the palms or soles; they are produced when......
  • vesicle (igneous rock)
    Among the most widespread structural features of volcanic rocks are the porelike openings left by the escape of gas from the congealing lava. Such openings are called vesicles, and the rocks in which they occur are said to be vesicular. Where the openings lie close together and form a large part of the containing rock, they impart to it a slaglike, or scoriaceous, structure. Their relative......
  • vesicle (anatomy)
    The nerve terminal contains many small vesicles (membrane-enclosed structures) about 50 nm in diameter, each of which contains 5,000–10,000 molecules of acetylcholine. Mitochondria are also present, providing a source of energy in the form of ATP. Acetylcholine is formed in the nerve terminal from choline and acetyl-CoA through the catalytic action of the enzyme choline acetyltransferase......
  • vesicular exanthema (animal disease)
    viral disease of swine causing eruption of painful blisters on feet and snout. Blisters emerge 24 to 72 hours after exposure and are accompanied by fever, which lasts 24 to 36 hours and may occur again after two or three days....
  • vesicular stomatitis (domestic animal disease)
    viral disease causing blisters in the mouths of cattle, horses, and mules and on the snouts and feet of swine. Horses and cattle with vesicular stomatitis become feverish two to five days after exposure. After the blisters break, the fever subsides, and the animal usually recovers. Differential diagnosis between vesicular stomatitis, vesicular exanthema, and foot-and-mouth disease, all of which d...
  • vesicular stomatitis virus (virus)
    ...protein synthesis in the host cell soon after infection; these picornaviruses also inhibit cellular RNA and DNA synthesis. Another virus that rapidly kills the infected cell is the negative-strand vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) of the family Rhabdoviridae; viral RNA newly synthesized by infectious VSV rapidly shuts off cellular RNA synthesis and, to a somewhat lesser extent, cellular protein....
  • vesiculitis (pathology)
    inflammation and infection of the seminal vesicles in the male reproductive tract. The seminal vesicles are ductlike glands that add fluid secretions to the seminal fluid as it passes from the body during intercourse. Infections present in the prostate or related organs usually involve the seminal vesicles also. Infections can reach the glands through the ure...
  • vesiculovirus (virus genus)
    ...a single glycoprotein, which is the type-specific antigen. Viruses of this family are widely infectious for plants and for animals varying from insects to humans. 2 animal genera are designated vesiculovirus, which includes the virus that causes vesicular stomatitis in cattle, swine, and equines, and lyssavirus, which includes the causative agent of......
  • Vesoul (France)
    town, capital of Haute-Saône département, Franche-Comté region, eastern France. It lies between the isolated conical hill, La Motte (1,263 ft [384 m]), and the Durgeon River. The hill is crowned by a votive chapel and a statue of the Virgin Mary....
  • Vespa (wasp genus)
    The most familiar social wasps in northern temperate regions are species of the genera Polistes, Vespa, or Vespula. Many are large and aggressive and are equipped with formidable stings. Some Vespula species are called yellow jackets owing to the black and yellow bands on their abdomen. Other species of both Vespula and Vespa are called hornets, which are......
  • Vespasian (Roman emperor)
    Roman emperor (ad 69–79) who, though of humble birth, became the founder of the Flavian dynasty after the civil wars that followed Nero’s death in 68. His fiscal reforms and consolidation of the empire generated political stability and a vast Roman building program....
  • Vespasian Psalter (religious manuscript)
    ...of a true English translation was the development of the interlinear gloss, a valuable pedagogic device for the introduction of youthful members of monastic schools to the study of the Bible. The Vespasian Psalter is the outstanding surviving example of the technique from the 9th century. In the next century the Lindisfarne Gospels, written in Latin c. 700, were glossed in Anglo-Saxon......
  • Vespasiano da Bisticca (Italian biographer)
    Nicholas was a man of gentle character who achieved more by wise concession than others did by force. Of him Vespasiano da Bisticci (1421–98), the biographer of 15th-century luminaries, wrote: “He did not know what avarice was: indeed, if he retained anything of his own, it was simply because no one had asked him for it.” His diplomatic efforts on behalf of peace in Italy and....
  • Vespasianus, Titus Flavius (Roman emperor)
    Roman emperor (79–81), and the conqueror of Jerusalem in 70....
  • Vesper (Greco-Roman mythology)
    in Greco-Roman mythology, the evening star; although initially considered to be the son of Eos (the Dawn) and the Titan Astraeus, he was later said to be the son or brother of Atlas. He was later identified with the morning star, Phosphorus, or Eosphorus (Latin: Lucifer), the bringer of light (later discovered by astronomers to be the planet Venus). Hesperus is variously described by different aut...
  • vesper bat (mammal)
    large family of bats numbering more than 400 species. They are found worldwide in both tropical and temperate regions, their habitats ranging from tropical forest to desert....
  • Vesper Chimes (Christian evangelical group)
    Christian evangelical group founded in 1942 as Vesper Chimes, a radio ministry broadcast from Lima, Ohio, by Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–85). Its current headquarters are in New Knoxville, Ohio; estimates of its membership range from 3,000 to 20,000....
  • “Vespers” (work by Monteverdi)
    ...Numerous polyphonic settings were made of Tenebrae texts. Among the most famous are the Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Lamentations and Responsories (1585). With Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610), a new style emerges. Orchestrally inspired church services revolutionized the polyphonic tradition of ecclesiastical music....
  • vespers (religious liturgy)
    evening prayer of thanksgiving and praise in Roman Catholic and certain other Christian liturgy. Vespers and lauds (morning prayer) are the oldest and most important of the traditional liturgy of the hours. Many scholars believe vespers is based on Judaic forms of prayer and point to a daily evening celebration observed among Jews in the first century before Christ....
  • Vespertilio murinus (mammal)
    any of certain bat species of the family vesper bat....
  • vespertilionid bat (mammal)
    large family of bats numbering more than 400 species. They are found worldwide in both tropical and temperate regions, their habitats ranging from tropical forest to desert....
  • Vespertilionidae (mammal)
    large family of bats numbering more than 400 species. They are found worldwide in both tropical and temperate regions, their habitats ranging from tropical forest to desert....
  • Vespertine (album by Bjork)
    In 2001 Björk released the quiet and hypnotic Vespertine. Her first studio album in four years, it refrained from pushing the musical boundaries that had made her a star of the 1990s and instead focused on a more rhythmic, contemplative intimacy. Björk’s later works include Medúlla (2004)—an all-vocals a...
  • Vespidae (wasp family)
    ...by the female parent. There are more than 20,000 known species of wasps, the vast majority of which are solitary in habit. The social wasps are confined to about 1,000 species within the family Vespidae (superfamily Vespoidea) and include the hornets and yellow jackets. They differ from other wasp families in having their wings folded longitudinally when at rest....
  • Vespinae (insect)
    For nest building, the Polistinae (paper wasps) and Vespinae (e.g., yellow jackets) use paperlike coverings, which they construct by gnawing wood particles from structures such as fences, telephone poles, and barn doors. This is then kneaded together with saliva to form a little ball. After returning to the nest, insects roll the balls into layers of paper-thin cell walls. Vespinae also......
  • vespoid wasp (wasp superfamily)
    ...There are more than 20,000 known species of wasps, the vast majority of which are solitary in habit. The social wasps are confined to about 1,000 species within the family Vespidae (superfamily Vespoidea) and include the hornets and yellow jackets. They differ from other wasp families in having their wings folded longitudinally when at rest....
  • Vespoidea (wasp superfamily)
    ...There are more than 20,000 known species of wasps, the vast majority of which are solitary in habit. The social wasps are confined to about 1,000 species within the family Vespidae (superfamily Vespoidea) and include the hornets and yellow jackets. They differ from other wasp families in having their wings folded longitudinally when at rest....
  • Vespro della Beata Vergine (work by Monteverdi)
    ...Numerous polyphonic settings were made of Tenebrae texts. Among the most famous are the Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Lamentations and Responsories (1585). With Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610), a new style emerges. Orchestrally inspired church services revolutionized the polyphonic tradition of ecclesiastical music....
  • Vespucci, Amerigo (Italian navigator)
    merchant and explorer-navigator who took part in early voyages to the New World (1499–1500, 1501–02) and occupied the influential post of piloto mayor (“master navigator”) in Sevilla (1508–12). The name for the Americas is derived from his given name....
  • Vespula (insect genus)
    The most familiar social wasps in northern temperate regions are species of the genera Polistes, Vespa, or Vespula. Many are large and aggressive and are equipped with formidable stings. Some Vespula species are called yellow jackets owing to the black and yellow bands on their abdomen. Other species of both Vespula and Vespa are called hornets, which are......
  • Vessantara (Buddha)
    ...of an episode in the life of a buddha or a bodhisattva. In Tibet troupes of actors specialize in performances of Buddhist legends. In Thailand the recitation of the story of Phra Wes (Pali: Vessantara) constitutes one of the most important festival events of the agricultural calendar....
  • vessel (plant anatomy)
    in botany, the most specialized and efficient conducting structure of xylem (fluid-conducting tissues). Characteristic of most flowering plants and absent from most gymnosperms and ferns, vessels are thought to have evolved from tracheids (a primitive form of water-conducting cell) by loss of the end walls....
  • vessel cell (plant anatomy)
    ...normally long, narrow, and attenuated at the tips. Their secondary walls display ladderlike (scalariform) thickenings. The largest tracheids are several centimetres long, but most are much smaller. Vessel cells, which have evolved in several lines of fern evolution and are the principal water-conducting cell type of flowering plants, are modified tracheids in which the end walls have lost their...
  • vessel element (plant anatomy)
    ...normally long, narrow, and attenuated at the tips. Their secondary walls display ladderlike (scalariform) thickenings. The largest tracheids are several centimetres long, but most are much smaller. Vessel cells, which have evolved in several lines of fern evolution and are the principal water-conducting cell type of flowering plants, are modified tracheids in which the end walls have lost their...
  • vessel flute (musical instrument)
    musical instrument, an aerophone with a closed, spherically shaped body and a blow hole and sometimes with finger holes. In Africa many vessel flutes are made from gourds or shells; pottery bodies are found in China and Latin America. Ocarinas are often considered globular flutes, but they typically have ducts that guide the air from the blow hole to the edge ...
  • vessel traffic centre
    VTS seeks to meet the goals of the vessel traffic centre (to manage traffic) and the ship (to move through the area) by integrating space management, position fixing, track monitoring, and collision avoidance. The vessel traffic centre (VTC) coordinates ship passage in an area so as to be orderly and predictable. Position fixing may be done by both the VTC and ship and is critical to the next......
  • vessel traffic system
    The management of traffic and safety on a given body of water has been previously described as an assemblage of related but distinct systems. These systems are integrated in a vessel traffic system (VTS), which can be defined as an assortment of personnel, procedures, equipment, and regulations assembled for the purpose of traffic management in a given body of water. A VTS includes some means......
  • Vessy Bridge (bridge, Vessy, Switzerland)
    ...of engineering, always striving to use less material and keep costs down, he continually played with the forms in order to achieve maximum aesthetic expression. Some of his last bridges—at Vessy, Liesberg, and Lachen—illustrate his mature vision for the possibilities of structural art. Over the Arve River at Vessy in 1935, Maillart designed a three-hinged, hollow-box arch in......
  • vest (clothing)
    ...II of England. The reformed style consisted of a long coat with wide, turned-back sleeves and a row of buttons down the front, some of which were left unbuttoned to reveal a vest (later called a waistcoat in England), an undergarment almost identical to the coat....
  • Vest Fjord (fjord, Norway)
    fjord, in the Norwegian Sea off the northwestern coast of Norway. Formed by the Norwegian mainland to the east and the Lofoten islands to the north and west, Vest Fjord is about 100 miles (160 km) long and almost 50 miles (80 km) wide at its mouth, becoming narrower toward its head....
  • Vesta (Roman goddess)
    in Roman religion, goddess of the hearth, identified with the Greek Hestia. The lack of an easy source of fire in the early Roman community placed a special premium on the ever-burning hearth fire, both publicly and privately maintained; thus, from the earliest times Vesta was assured of a prominent place in both family and state worship. Her worship was observed in every household along with tha...
  • Vesta (asteroid)
    third largest and the brightest asteroid of the asteroid belt and the fourth such object to be discovered, by the German astronomer and physician Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807. It is named for the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth....
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