Islamic arts: Other classic mosques: …Nīshāpūr (Neyshābūr) in northeastern Iran, Sīrāf in southern Iran, Kairouan in Tunisia, and Córdoba in Spain, it can indeed be considered as the classic early Islamic type. Its masterpieces occur in Iraq and in the West. The monumentalization of the early Iraqi hypostyle is illustrated by the two ruined structures…

Tahina palm, (Tahina spectabilis), sole member of the palm tree genus Tahina (family Arecaceae). The palm is characterized by its spectacular end-of-life flowering. It is endemic to the Analalava district of northwestern Madagascar, where it inhabits seasonally flooded scrublands. The species was

Tahina palm, (Tahina spectabilis), sole member of the palm tree genus Tahina (family Arecaceae). The palm is characterized by its spectacular end-of-life flowering. It is endemic to the Analalava district of northwestern Madagascar, where it inhabits seasonally flooded scrublands. The species was

tahini, paste of crushed sesame seeds that is widely used in Middle Eastern cooking. Tahini mixed with garlic, lemon juice, and salt and thinned with water constitutes taratoor, a sauce that is eaten as a dip with Arab bread as part of a selection of meze, or hors d’oeuvres. Taratoor is mixed with

al-Maʾmūn: Early years.: …as by an Iranian general, Ṭāhir. Ṭāhir’s victory over al-Amīn’s army on the outskirts of the present Tehrān allowed al-Maʾmūn’s troops to occupy western Iran. Al-Amīn appealed in vain to new troops recruited in part from among the Arabs of Syria. He was finally besieged in Baghdad in April 812.…

Rasulid dynasty: …into the hands of the Tahirid dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of the 16th century.

Tahirid dynasty, (821–873 ce), Islamic dynasty of Khorāsān (centred in northeastern Persia), which owed nominal allegiance to the Abbasid caliph at Baghdad but enjoyed virtual independence. The dynasty—generally considered to be the first native Iranian Islamic dynasty—was founded by Ṭāhir ibn

Tahiti, largest island of the Îles du Vent (Windward Islands) of the Society Islands, French Polynesia, in the central South Pacific Ocean. Its nearest neighbour is Moorea, 12 miles (20 km) to the northwest. The island of Tahiti consists of two ancient eroded volcanic cones, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti

lime: The Persian lime (Citrus ×latifolia) is one of the most common commercial varieties, though the smaller key lime, or Mexican lime (C. ×aurantifolia), is also economically important in many places. The lime fruit is a key ingredient in certain pickles and chutneys, and lime juice is…

vanilla: …or Bourbon vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), Tahiti vanilla (V. tahitensis), and occasionally West Indian vanilla (V. pompona); all three species are thought to be derived from a single species native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Vanilla had been used to flavour xocoatl, the chocolate beverage of the Aztecs,…

Polynesian languages: …Zealand by about 100,000 persons; Tahitian, with an unknown number of native speakers but widely used as a lingua franca in French Polynesia; and Hawaiian, with only a few remaining native speakers but formerly spoken by perhaps 100,000 persons. Samoan is the national language of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), and…

Tahlequah, city, seat (1907) of Cherokee county, eastern Oklahoma, U.S., in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, near the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller. Settled by Cherokee Indians and made capital of the Cherokee Nation (1839–1907), the town site was laid out on Cherokee council grounds in

Tahltan, an Athabaskan-speaking North American Indian people living on the upper Stikine River and other nearby streams in what is now northwestern British Columbia, Can. This region, though grassy and rocky with only sparse woodlands, provided plentiful salmon and such game as caribou, moose,

Ṭahmāsp I was the shah of Iran from 1524 whose rule was marked by continuing warfare with the Ottoman Empire and the loss of large amounts of territory. Ṭahmāsp, the eldest son of Shah Ismāʿīl I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, was for a long period after coming to the throne a pawn of powerful

Iran: The Afghan interlude: …behalf of the Safavid prince Ṭahmāsp II (reigned 1722–32), who had escaped the Afghans. After Nādr had cleared the country of Afghans, Ṭahmāsp made him governor of a large area of eastern Iran.

Nādir Shāh was an Iranian ruler and conqueror who created an Iranian empire that stretched from the Indus River to the Caucasus Mountains. Nadr Qolī Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkic Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Safavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nadr

Lake Tahoe, freshwater lake occupying a fault basin on the California-Nevada border in the northern Sierra Nevada, U.S. Fed by numerous small streams, it is drained by the Truckee River to Pyramid Lake, Nevada, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast. It measures 22 miles (35 km) north-south and 12 miles

Mount Rainier, highest mountain (14,410 feet [4,392 metres]) in the state of Washington, U.S., and in the Cascade Range. It lies about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the city of Tacoma, within Mount Rainier National Park. The mountain is geologically young, formed by successive lava flows from

Tahoua, town, southern Niger. Situated on the boundary between a cultivated zone (peanuts [groundnuts]) and a drier, pastoral zone (cattle, goats, and sheep), it is an important trading town. During the Sahel drought of the 1970s and 1980s it served as a refugee centre. It is a significant junction

Daphnae, ancient fortress town (Fortress of Penhase), situated near Qanṭarah in northeastern Egypt. Excavations by Sir Flinders Petrie in 1886 uncovered a massive fort and enclosure surrounded by a wall 40 feet (12 metres) thick, built by Psamtik I in the 7th century bce. A garrison of mercenaries,

al-Bīrūnī: Works: Its expressive title, Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūlah maqbūlah fī al-ʿaql aw mardhūlah (“Verifying All That the Indians Recount, the Reasonable and the Unreasonable”), says it all; it includes all the lore that al-Bīrūnī could gather about India and its science, religion, literature, and customs. His only other…

tahr, (genus Hemitragus), any of three wary and sure-footed wild goatlike mammals of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), native to Asia. Tahrs live in herds and frequent steep, often wooded mountainsides. They range in shoulder height from 60 to 106 cm (24 to 42 inches), depending on the

Sayyid Shaykh bin Ahmad al-Hadi: …in 1926; translated Qasim Amīn’s Tahrir al-Marʾāh, on the emancipation of women (1930), into Malay; and edited and wrote extensively on religious, political, and social questions for his monthly journal Al-Ikhwan (“The Brotherhood”) from 1926 to 1930 and for his weekly (later biweekly) newspaper Saudara (“Brother”) from 1928 until his…

Syria: Turning point in the war: …most rogue groups, such as Hayʾat Taḥrīr al-Shām (HTS), seemed to signal their compliance before the deadline. Heavy weaponry was removed from the buffer zone, but some fighters from the rogue groups reportedly remained past the deadline.

Egypt: Unrest in 2011: January 25 Revolution: …supporters fought antigovernment demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Cairo, resulting in at least five deaths; an estimated 1,500 people were injured. It was widely suspected that many of the Mubarak supporters who participated in the fighting were members of the the regime’s plainclothes security force launching a coordinated attack on…

Rifāʿah Rāfiʿ al-Ṭahṭāwī was a teacher and scholar who was one of the first Egyptians to grapple with the question of adjusting to the West and to provide answers in Islamic terms. Ṭahṭāwī’s first important contact with the West occurred in 1826, when he went to Paris as a religious teacher to a

Tahuantinsuyu, territories spread over parts of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina that, by the 1500s, were all part of a single Inca state. See also pre-Columbian Meso-American

Sangihe Islands: Tahuna (Taruna), on Sangihe’s west coast, is the main town and lies in the shadow of Mount Awu (4,330 feet [1,320 metres]), an active volcano to the north. Most of the islands’ inhabitants profess Christianity. Manila hemp is grown, and its weaving is a major…

Chinese architecture: The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bce): …also describe platforms or towers, tai, made of rammed earth and timber and used as watchtowers, as treasuries, or for ritual sacrifices and feasts, while pictures engraved or inlaid on late Zhou bronze vessels show two-story buildings used for this type of ritual activity. Some of these multistory buildings are…

atomic time: International Atomic Time (TAI) is based on a system consisting of about 270 laboratory-constructed atomic clocks. Signals from these atomic clocks are transmitted to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres just outside Paris, which uses them to form TAI. Since 1972, leap…

Tai, peoples of mainland Southeast Asia, including the Thai, or Siamese (in central and southern Thailand), the Lao (in Laos and northern Thailand), the Shan (in northeast Myanmar [Burma]), the Lü (primarily in Yunnan province, China, but also in Myanmar, Laos, northern Thailand, and Vietnam), the

Dai Zhen was a Chinese empirical philosopher, considered by many to have been the greatest thinker of the Qing period (1644–1911/12). Born to poor parents, Dai educated himself by reading borrowed books. Although he passed his preliminary civil service examinations, he never passed the highly

tai chi chuan, ancient and distinctive Chinese form of exercise or attack and defense that is popular throughout the world. As exercise, tai chi chuan is designed to provide relaxation in the process of body-conditioning exercise and is drawn from the principles of taiji, notably including the

tai chi chuan, ancient and distinctive Chinese form of exercise or attack and defense that is popular throughout the world. As exercise, tai chi chuan is designed to provide relaxation in the process of body-conditioning exercise and is drawn from the principles of taiji, notably including the

Dai Jin was a Chinese landscape painter of the Ming dynasty. Dai was one of the leaders in the early Ming revival of the Ma-Xia (after Ma Yuan and Xia Gui), or academic, style of landscape painting of the Southern Song (1127–1279), which came to be called the Zhe school (after Zhejiang province, in

Laos: Ethnic groups and languages: …as the Tai Dam (Black Tai; so named for their black clothing) in the northeast. Beyond the government’s three Lao groupings are communities of Chinese and Vietnamese, both of which are concentrated primarily in the large towns.

Laos: Ethnic groups and languages: …Dam and Tai Deng (Red Tai; so named after their red clothing), among others.

Ebola: Species of ebolaviruses: ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Taï Forest ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, and Bundibugyo ebolavirus, named for their outbreak locations—have been described. The viruses are known commonly as Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Taï Forest virus (TAFV), Reston virus (RESTV), and Bundibugyo virus (BDBV).

Ebola: Species of ebolaviruses: ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Taï Forest ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, and Bundibugyo ebolavirus, named for their outbreak locations—have been described. The viruses are known commonly as Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Taï Forest virus (TAFV), Reston virus (RESTV), and Bundibugyo virus (BDBV).

Fu Xi, first mythical emperor of China. His miraculous birth, as a divine being with a serpent’s body, is said to have occurred in the 29th century bce. Some representations show him as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain or as a man clothed with animal skins. Fu Xi is said to have

Lake Tai, large lake between Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, eastern China. Roughly crescent-shaped, it is about 45 miles (70 km) from north to south and 37 miles (59 km) from east to west; its total surface area is about 935 square miles (2,425 square km). The lake lies in a flat plain and is

Tai languages, closely related family of languages, of which the Thai language of Thailand is the most important member. Because the word Thai has been designated as the official name of the language of Thailand, it would be confusing to use it for the various other languages of the family as well.

Hong Kong: Relief: From Mount Tai Mo—at 3,140 feet (957 metres) the highest peak in the territory—the series of ridges extends southwestward to Lantau Island, where the terrain rises to 3,064 feet (934 metres) on Lantau Peak and 2,851 feet (869 metres) on Sunset Peak. Extending southeastward from Mount…

Shandong: Relief: …faulted ranges—the Yi, Lu, and Tai, which stretch northeastward for more than 200 miles (320 km)—and a more diversified, lower, and more exposed southern portion. The granitic Tai massif, dominated by Mount Tai, the most famous of China’s five sacred mountains, attains a maximum elevation of 5,000 feet (1,534 metres)…

Sassandra River: …boundary of the 1,641-square-mile (4,250-square-kilometre) Taï Reserve (known for pygmy hippopotamuses) and flows through an area noted for timber (sipo and mahogany), coffee, and bananas. Frequent rapids impede the navigability of the river, but small craft can penetrate 50 miles (80 km) upstream.

Mount Tai, mountain mass with several peaks along a southwest-northeast axis to the north of the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, eastern China. Mount Tai consists of a much-shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and some ancient limestones. The

Laozi was the first philosopher of Chinese Daoism and the alleged author of the Daodejing, a primary Daoist writing. Modern scholars discount the possibility that the Daodejing was written by only one person but readily acknowledge the influence of Daoism on the development of Buddhism. Laozi is

Laozi was the first philosopher of Chinese Daoism and the alleged author of the Daodejing, a primary Daoist writing. Modern scholars discount the possibility that the Daodejing was written by only one person but readily acknowledge the influence of Daoism on the development of Buddhism. Laozi is

Shandong: History of Shandong: …defeat—their first of the war—at Tai’erzhuang, in southern Shandong, in 1938. In the postwar struggle between the Chinese communists and the Nationalists, Shandong came under communist control by the end of 1948.

Lake Tai, large lake between Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, eastern China. Roughly crescent-shaped, it is about 45 miles (70 km) from north to south and 37 miles (59 km) from east to west; its total surface area is about 935 square miles (2,425 square km). The lake lies in a flat plain and is

Mount Tai, mountain mass with several peaks along a southwest-northeast axis to the north of the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, eastern China. Mount Tai consists of a much-shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and some ancient limestones. The

Parc National de Taï, national park, southwestern Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), situated between the Liberian border (along the Cavally River) to the west and the Sassandra River to the east. Formerly a fauna reserve (decreed 1956) and prior to that a forest refuge (from 1926), it was established as

Tai languages: The relationship of Tai languages to other language families: …its relatives is called either Tai-Kadai or simply Kadai. The former assumption that Tai and its relatives belonged to the Sino-Tibetan family is now not widely accepted. The similarity between the Tai and Chinese phonological systems (especially tone) is no longer taken as criterial, and, although many lexical items are…

Nuku Hiva: Hakapehi (Tai-o-hae), on the south coast, the main harbour and port, is the administrative seat for the Marquesas. Another harbour, Anaho Bay, is on the north coast. American writer Herman Melville visited the region in the 1840s, and Nuku Hiva was the setting for his…

China: The Qin Mountains: …higher, with the highest peak, Mount Taibai, rising to 12,359 feet (3,767 meters). The Qin Mountains consist of a series of parallel ridges, all running roughly west-east, separated by a maze of ramifying valleys whose canyon walls often rise sheer to a height of 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the…

Taipei, special (province-level) municipality (chih-hsia shih, or zhizia shi) and seat of government of Taiwan (Republic of China). It is situated on the Tan-shui (Danshui, or Tamsui) River, almost at the northern tip of the island of Taiwan, about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of Chi-lung (Jilong, or

Micheál MacLiammóir: …with Edwards, MacLiammóir organized the Galway Theatre (Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe) in 1928 and acted as its director from 1928 to 1931. There MacLiammóir’s Diarmuid agus Gráinne (1928), a verse-play version, in Gaelic, of a Celtic myth about two famous lovers, was first produced.

China: The dynastic succession: …and morale continued under the Taichang emperor, whose sudden death after a reign of only one month in 1620 fueled new conflicts. The Tianqi emperor (reigned 1620–27) was too young and indecisive to provide needed leadership. In 1624 he finally gave almost totalitarian powers to his favorite, Wei Zhongxian, the…

Taidu, name by which the Venetian traveler Marco Polo referred to the city of Beijing, China, which at that time was the capital of the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty

Taieri River, river in southeastern South Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Lammerlaw Range and flows 179 miles (288 km) north and southeast in a great arc—across the Maniototo Plains, around the Rock and Pillar Range, and across the Taieri Plains—to the Pacific Ocean, 20 miles (32 km) southwest

taifa, a faction or party, as applied to the followers of any of the petty kings who appeared in Muslim Spain in a period of great political fragmentation early in the 11th century after the dissolution of the central authority of the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba. After the dictatorship of

millet, (Turkish: “religious community,” or “people”), according to the Qurʾān, the religion professed by Abraham and other ancient prophets. In medieval Islāmic states, the word was applied to certain non-Muslim minorities, mainly Christians and Jews. In the heterogeneous Ottoman Empire (c.

rocket and missile system: Antiaircraft rockets: …by the Germans was the Taifun. A slender, six-foot, liquid-propellant rocket of simple concept, the Taifun was intended for altitudes of 50,000 feet. The design embodied coaxial tankage of nitric acid and a mixture of organic fuels, but the weapon never became operational.

taiga, biome (major life zone) of vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees, found in northern circumpolar forested regions characterized by long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation. The taiga, “land of the little sticks” in Russian,

Canada: Forest regions: A vast transitional zone, the taiga shield, comprising some 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km) of mixed boreal and tundra growth, connects the northern forest and the tundra region. Generally, the trees in this subarctic zone, with its cold, dry climate, are small and of little commercial consequence. The zone,…

Shintō: Shintō reaction against Buddhism: …beings in the universe) was Taigen Sonjin (the Great Exalted One). According to its teaching, if one is truly purified, his heart can be the kami’s abode. The ideal of inner purification was a mysterious state of mind in which one worshiped the kami that lived in one’s own heart.…

Japanese music: Music notation: Of equal value is the Taigenshō, written by a gagaku musician, Toyohara Sumiaki, in 1512, when court music seemed on the verge of extinction.

Ryōkan was a Zen Buddhist priest of the late Tokugawa period (1603–1867) who was renowned as a poet and calligrapher. The eldest son of a village headman, he became a Buddhist priest at about the age of 17 under the religious name of Taigu Ryōkan. When he was 21 he met an itinerant monk, Kokusen,

Taihang Mountains, mountain range of northern China, stretching some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and forming the boundary between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and between the Shanxi plateau and the North China Plain. Some Western writers have erroneously called the mountains the T’ai-hsing

Taihang Mountains, mountain range of northern China, stretching some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and forming the boundary between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and between the Shanxi plateau and the North China Plain. Some Western writers have erroneously called the mountains the T’ai-hsing

Taihape, town, south-central North Island, New Zealand. It lies along the Hautapu River, 7 miles (11 km) above the latter’s confluence with the Rangitikei River. It was founded in 1894 as a coaching station on a track leading east to Hastings and was known as Otaihape, a Maori word meaning the

Beijing: Public and commercial buildings: …north is the massive, double-tiered Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), once the throne hall. A marble terrace rises above the marble balustrades that surround it, upon which stand beautiful ancient bronzes in the shapes of caldrons, cranes, turtles, compasses, and ancient measuring instruments. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the…

Japan: Traditional regions: …and northern Kyushu as the Pacific Belt Zone (Taihei-yō Beruto Chitai). This zone includes most of the Japanese cities with populations of more than one million, as well as more than half of the country’s total population.

Japanese literature: Kamakura period (1192–1333): The Taiheiki (“Chronicle of the Great Peace”; Eng. trans. Taiheiki), for example, covers about 50 years, beginning in 1318, when the emperor Go-Daigo ascended the throne. Though revered as a classic by generations of Japanese, it possesses comparatively little appeal for Western readers, no doubt because…

Taihō code, (ad 701), in Japan, administrative and penal code of the Taihō era early in the Nara period, modeled on the codes of the Chinese T’ang dynasty (618–907) and in force until the late 8th century. Although the first work on legal codes was begun in 662, the Taihō code was the most famous.

Taihō code, (ad 701), in Japan, administrative and penal code of the Taihō era early in the Nara period, modeled on the codes of the Chinese T’ang dynasty (618–907) and in force until the late 8th century. Although the first work on legal codes was begun in 662, the Taihō code was the most famous.

taiji, in Chinese philosophy, the ultimate source and motive force behind all reality. In the Book of Changes (Yijing), the ancient philosophical text in which the concept is first mentioned, taiji is the source and union of the two primary aspects of the cosmos, yang (active) and yin (passive).

tai chi chuan, ancient and distinctive Chinese form of exercise or attack and defense that is popular throughout the world. As exercise, tai chi chuan is designed to provide relaxation in the process of body-conditioning exercise and is drawn from the principles of taiji, notably including the

Zhou Dunyi: …works was the short treatise Taijitushuo (“Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate”), in which he developed a metaphysics based on the idea that “the many are [ultimately] one, and the one is actually differentiated into the many.” Zhou combined Daoist schema of the universe with the Yijing’s concept…

Anatolia: Origins and ascendancy: Armenian principalities of Vaspurakan, Taik, and Ani along the easternmost border of the Byzantine Empire. Armenian historians of this period speak of their adversaries as “long-haired Turkmens armed with bow and lance on horses which flew like the wind.” The Armenian princes appealed to Constantinople for protection from these…

Taika era reforms, (“Great Reformation of the Taika Era”), series of political innovations that followed the coup d’état of ad 645, led by Prince Nakano Ōe (later the emperor Tenji; q.v.) and Nakatomi Kamatari (later Fujiwara Kamatari; q.v.) against the powerful Soga clan. The reforms extended the

Taika era reforms, (“Great Reformation of the Taika Era”), series of political innovations that followed the coup d’état of ad 645, led by Prince Nakano Ōe (later the emperor Tenji; q.v.) and Nakatomi Kamatari (later Fujiwara Kamatari; q.v.) against the powerful Soga clan. The reforms extended the

taiko, any of various Japanese forms of barrel-shaped drums with lashed or tacked heads, usually played with sticks (bachi). When the word combines with another for the name of a specific type of drum, the t euphonically changes to d, thus o-daiko for the large two-headed tacked drum heard in folk

Taikō Josetsu was a priest and painter, regarded as the first of the long line of Japanese Zen Buddhist priests who painted in the Chinese-inspired suiboku (monochromatic ink painting) style. Josetsu was associated with the Shōkoku-ji (in present Kyōto), where his pupil, the prominent painter

Japan: The Hideyoshi regime: The so-called Taikō land survey played a crucial role in this process. Taikō was a traditional title for the former office of kampaku (chancellor) which Hideyoshi assumed in 1591. Like Nobunaga, Hideyoshi felt constrained by lineage not to make himself shogun and thus sought other titles to…

astronaut, designation, derived from the Greek words for “star” and “sailor,” commonly applied to an individual who has flown in outer space. More specifically, in the West, astronaut refers to those from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan who travel into space. Those Soviet and later

tail, in zoology, prolongation of the backbone beyond the trunk of the body, or any slender projection resembling such a structure. The tail of a vertebrate is composed of flesh and bone but contains no viscera. In fishes and many larval amphibians, the tail is of major importance in locomotion. In

comet: Tails: In 1951 German astronomer Ludwig Biermann studied the tails of comets and showed that the ion tails flowed away from the Sun at speeds in excess of 400 km (250 miles) per second. He suggested that the phenomenon had to be associated with some…

geomagnetic field: The magnetotail current: Radially outward near local midnight rather than at local noon, there is an entirely different current system. Beginning at approximately 10 Re and extending well beyond 200 Re is the tail current system. This current is from dawn to dusk in the same…

malacostracan: Locomotion: …propulsion is provided by the tail fan. In amphipods the tail fan (consisting of three pairs of uropods and telson) provides a sudden forward thrust. In eucaridans (especially decapods) the tail fan (paired uropods and telson) provides a characteristic “tail-flip” or sudden backward escape reaction.

bird: Feathers: …wing (remiges) and tail (rectrices) and their coverts function in flight. Contour feathers grow in tracts (pterylae) separated by bare areas (apteria) and develop from follicles in the skin.

comet: Tails: In 1951 German astronomer Ludwig Biermann studied the tails of comets and showed that the ion tails flowed away from the Sun at speeds in excess of 400 km (250 miles) per second. He suggested that the phenomenon had to be associated with some…

radiation measurement: Pulse mode: …signal pulse is called a tail pulse, and it is observed from the preamplifier used with many kinds of common radiation detectors.

tail rhyme, a verse form in which rhymed lines such as couplets or triplets are followed by a tail—a line of different (usually shorter) length that does not rhyme with the couplet or triplet. In a tail-rhyme stanza (also called a tail-rhymed stanza), the tails rhyme with each

helicopter: Differences in helicopter and airplane design and construction: …including the use of a tail rotor to offset torque. (Some helicopters use a “no tail rotor” system, in which low-pressure air is circulated through a tail boom to control the torque of the spinning main rotor.) Less obvious are such additions as the transmission system, which is used to…

isoprenoid: Tail-to-tail coupling of isoprenoids: The structures of most triterpenes and tetraterpenes show that they were formed by establishment of a tail-to-tail bond (carbon 4 to carbon 4) between two smaller units: in the structural formula of the important triterpene hydrocarbon squalene, for example, the arrow…

lighthouse: Structure and operation: Some tail-tube buoys, which tend to oscillate vertically with the motion of the sea, generate power from the oscillating water column in the tube. The water column produces an oscillating air column, which in turn drives a small air-turbine generator. However, the vast majority of buoys…

India: The tripartite struggle: Taila II (reigned 973–997), who traced his ancestry to the earlier Calukyas of Vatapi, ruled a small part of Bijapur. Upon the weakening of Rashtrakuta power, he defeated the king, declared his independence, and founded what has come to be called the Later Calukya dynasty.…

coccyx, curved, semiflexible lower end of the backbone (vertebral column) in apes and humans, representing a vestigial tail. It is composed of three to five successively smaller caudal (coccygeal) vertebrae. The first is a relatively well-defined vertebra and connects with the sacrum; the last is

dress: The 19th century: The tailcoat, waisted and padded on the chest, was de rigueur, accompanied by a waistcoat and close-fitting trousers called pantaloons, which were first buckled at the ankle and later, after 1820, strapped under the instep.