spreading centre, in oceanography and geology, the linear boundary between two diverging lithospheric plates on the ocean floor. As the two plates move apart from each other, which often occurs at a rate of several centimetres per year, molten rock wells up from the underlying mantle into the gap

seafloor spreading, theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which revolutionized geologic thought

seafood, edible aquatic animals, excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures. Most nontoxic aquatic species are exploited for food by humans. Even those with toxic properties, such as certain blowfish, can be prepared so as to circumvent harm to the consumer. Fish and other

Jamaica: The independent country: …elections of 1980 by the Edward Seaga-led JLP.

Texas Rangers: …the strong play of shortstop Corey Seager. With a regular season record of 90–72, the team returned to the playoffs, and in the AL Championship Series, the Rangers defeated the Astros, 4–3, to advance to the World Series. There Texas defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4–1, to win the franchise’s first…

Seagram Building, high-rise office building in New York City (1958). Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, this sleek Park Avenue skyscraper is a pure example of a rectilinear prism sheathed in glass and bronze. It took the International Style to its zenith. Despite its austere

Seagram Company Ltd., former Canadian corporation that was the world’s largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits. The company began when Distillers Corp., Ltd., a Montreal distillery owned by Samuel Bronfman, acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1928. The new company, named Distillers

Fernán Caballero: …best-known novel, La gaviota (1849; The Seagull), was an immediate success with the public. No other Spanish book of the 19th century obtained such instant and universal recognition. It describes the career of a fisherman’s daughter who marries a German physician, deserts her husband to become an opera singer, falls…

Annette Bening: Career: …adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull. Bening later portrayed Senator Dianne Feinstein in The Report (2019), about the investigation into the U.S. government torture program in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, and she was cast in the superhero movie Captain Marvel

The Seagull, drama in four acts by Anton Chekhov, performed in 1896 and published in Russian the following year as Chayka. A revised edition was published in 1904. The play deals with lost opportunities and the clash between generations. The main characters, all artists, are guests at a country

Easington: Seaham, founded in 1828, is the area’s port. The new town of Peterlee was established in central Easington in 1948. Its original purpose was to replace the typical 19th-century housing of the nearby scattered mining villages and to create recreational and service facilities for the…

seahorse, (genus Hippocampus), any of about 50 species of marine fishes allied to pipefishes in the family Syngnathidae (order Gasterosteiformes). Seahorses are found in shallow coastal waters in latitudes from about 52° N to 45° S. Their habitats include coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds, and

seal, any of 32 species of web-footed aquatic mammals that live chiefly in cold seas and whose body shape, round at the middle and tapered at the ends, is adapted to swift and graceful swimming. There are two types of seals: the earless, or true, seals (family Phocidae); and the eared seals (family

Seal: Early life and career: Seal’s first album, Seal, released in 1991, exploded onto the British charts. It eventually went platinum in the United States and created a frenzy among record companies to sign the hot new star.

seal, in documentation, an impression made by the impact of a hard engraved surface on a softer material such as wax or clay, producing a device in relief. Seals have been used since remote antiquity to authenticate documents. The study of seals, known as sigillography, is a major historical

Seal is a British singer known for his rich original blend of Motown, British glam rock, and Chicago house music, which earned him critical and popular acclaim, multiple Grammy Awards, and millions of dollars in sales. Seal’s dense rhythms and soulful melodies have been compared to those of such

food preservation: Presterilization procedures: …cans and the cans are sealed. An airtight seal is achieved between the lid and the rim of the can using a thin layer of gasket or compound. The anaerobic conditions prevent the growth of oxygen-requiring microorganisms. In addition, many of the spores of anaerobic microorganisms are less resistant to…

Navy SEAL: History: …that eventually became known as SEAL delivery vehicle (SDV) teams. In 1987 all SEAL and SDV teams were placed under the new Naval Special Warfare Command, located at Naval Base Coronado, at the entrance to San Diego Bay, California.

printing: Origins in China: …showed up; some were religious seals used to transfer pictures and texts of prayers to paper. It was probably this use of seals that led in the 4th or 5th century to the development of ink of a good consistency for printing.

agenesis: …or both hands or feet), phocomelia (normal hands and feet but absence of the long bones), and amelia (complete absence of one or more limbs).

Antarctica: Biological resources: Commercial fur sealing began during the second half of the 18th century in the Falkland Islands and rapidly spread to all subantarctic islands in the zeal to supply the wealthy markets of Europe and China. The industry made immense profits, but the toll on mammal populations was…

sigillography: Royal and official seals: The great seal, or seal of majesty (a round seal showing the seated ruler with the royal insignia), first appeared in Europe on the seal of the emperor Henry II of Germany (ruled 1002–24), in France on the seal of Henry I (ruled 1031–60), and in…

Islamic world: Abū Bakr’s succession: …of the revealed messages as khatm al-anbiyāʾ (“seal of the prophets”). In his ability to interpret the events of his reign from the perspective of Islam, Abū Bakr demonstrated the power of the new conceptual vocabulary Muhammad had introduced.

Fisherman’s Ring: signet ring that is presented to the pope—the leader of the Roman Catholic Church—at his papal inauguration. Its standard design shows an image of St. Peter the Apostle with the reigning pope’s name inscribed above it. It was formerly used as a seal for the…

SEAL Team 6, common name for an elite U.S. military special missions unit consisting of Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, and Land forces). SEAL Team 6 is best known for the 2011 raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. It is overseen by the Joint Special Operations Command, a component of the

Indian philosophy: 19th- and 20th-century philosophy in India and Pakistan: …the chair of philosophy was Sir Brajendranath Seal, a versatile scholar in many branches of learning, both scientific and humanistic. Seal’s major published work is The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus, which, besides being a work on the history of science, shows interrelations among the ancient Hindu philosophical concepts…

Sealab, experimental program sponsored by the U.S. Navy intended to determine whether humans could live and work successfully for long periods of time at the bottom of the ocean. The name of the program also refers to any of the three experimental underwater habitats deployed in the Atlantic and

Bobby Seale is an American political activist who founded, along with Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party; Seale also served as the national chairman. He was one of a generation of young African American radicals who broke away from the traditionally nonviolent civil rights movement to preach a

Bobby Seale is an American political activist who founded, along with Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party; Seale also served as the national chairman. He was one of a generation of young African American radicals who broke away from the traditionally nonviolent civil rights movement to preach a

Lewis Allen: Milland also starred in Sealed Verdict (1948), a courtroom melodrama in which he romances a Nazi’s former mistress while preparing to prosecute her. In 1949 Allen helmed Chicago Deadline, a drama featuring Alan Ladd as an investigative reporter delving into the life and death of a prostitute. The two…

automobile: Electrical system: …and a low beam, called sealed-beam units. Introduced in 1940, these bulbs found widespread use following World War II. Such units could have only one filament at the focal point of the reflector. Because of the greater illumination required for high-speed driving with the high beam, the lower beam filament…

Marvin Hagler: …late 1974 when he fought Sugar Ray Seales to a draw. After losing two matches in 1976 to middleweights Bobby Watts and Willie Monroe, Hagler remained unbeaten for another decade.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Institutions and practices: …to the initiate), and the sealing of husbands, wives, and children (which may also be undertaken by proxy for the dead) are essential ceremonies that take place in the temple. During the endowment, the person is ritually washed, anointed with oil, and dressed in temple garments. This is followed by…

Antarctica: Biological resources: Commercial fur sealing began during the second half of the 18th century in the Falkland Islands and rapidly spread to all subantarctic islands in the zeal to supply the wealthy markets of Europe and China. The industry made immense profits, but the toll on mammal populations was…

packaging: Package closures must provide adequate sealing, and they must be sanitary and mechanically safe. Labeling for packages must be easy to print and to affix to the container material.

sealing wax, substance formerly in wide use for sealing letters and attaching impressions of seals to documents. In medieval times it consisted of a mixture of beeswax, Venice turpentine, and colouring matter, usually vermilion; later lac from Indonesia supplanted the beeswax. The wax was prepared

Seattle was the chief of the Duwamish, Suquamish, and other Puget Sound tribes who befriended white settlers of the region. Seattle came under the influence of French missionaries, was converted to Roman Catholicism, and instituted morning and evening services among his people—a practice maintained

Sealyham terrier, breed of terrier developed during the latter half of the 19th century by Capt. John Edwardes for hunting foxes, otters, and badgers on his estate, Sealyham, in Wales. A small, short-legged, sturdy dog, the Sealyham was bred for courage, stamina, and hunting ability. It has a

sedimentary rock: Coal: …into the various kinds of coal: initially brown coal or lignite, then soft or bituminous coal, and finally, with metamorphism, hard or anthracite coal. In the geologic record, coal occurs in beds, called seams, which are blanketlike coal deposits a few centimetres to metres or hundreds of metres thick.

private: Navy it is seaman, in the U.S. Air Force, airman.

Robert C. Seamans, Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer who pioneered in the development of advanced systems of flight control, fire control, and guidance for modern aircraft. In 1941 Seamans became an instructor of aircraft instrumentation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),

Robert C. Seamans, Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer who pioneered in the development of advanced systems of flight control, fire control, and guidance for modern aircraft. In 1941 Seamans became an instructor of aircraft instrumentation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),

Stephen Bleecker Luce: …to that end he published Seamanship (1863), which became a standard text.

Massachusetts: Cultural life: …and some 600 logbooks; the Seamen’s Bethel (chapel), also located in New Bedford, was immortalized by Melville in Moby Dick.

Zeami was the greatest playwright and theorist of the Japanese Noh theatre. He and his father, Kan’ami (1333–84), were the creators of the Noh drama in its present form. Under the patronage of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, whose favour Zeami enjoyed after performing before him in 1374, the Noh

steel: Tubes: Seamless tubing involved the piercing of a round billet; this process was developed in Britain in 1841. A greatly improved process was developed by the Mannesmann company in Germany in 1886; this involved rolling the billet longitudinally and at the same time forcing it onto…

seamount, large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 1,000 m (3,300 feet) above the surrounding deep-sea floor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Great Meteor Tablemount in the northeast Atlantic, standing more than 4,000 m

Fernand Léger: In 1909 he produced The Seamstress, in which he reduced his colours to a combination of blue-gray and buff and rendered the human body as a mass of slabs and cylinders that resembled a robot. His style was aptly nicknamed “tubism.”

Sean Hannity: …as well, as host of The Sean Hannity Show (1998– ), which was eventually syndicated on more than 500 stations in the United States. He also hosted the Fox News Channel show Hannity’s America, a weekly conservative current-affairs program. Following the end of Hannity & Colmes in 2009, Hannity assumed…

Simon Pegg: Career: …again for the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead, with Wright again directing and Pegg starring and cowriting the script. Frost, who had in part helped inspire the story—a “romantic zombie comedy” (also called a “rom-zom-com”) about friends who attempt to weather a zombie apocalypse from their local pub—again played…

Ireland: Constitutional framework: …the Oireachtas—the Dáil and the Seanad Éireann (Senate). Chief legislative power is centred in the 158-member Dáil. The Seanad may delay bills passed by the Dáil, or it may suggest changes in them, but it cannot indefinitely block their passage into law.

séance, (French: “sitting”), in occultism, meeting centred on a medium (q.v.), who seeks to communicate with spirits of the dead. Because strong light is said to hinder communication, a séance usually takes place in darkness or subdued light. It generally involves six or eight persons, who normally

surfperch, any of 23 species of fishes of the family Embiotocidae (order Perciformes). Surfperches are found in the North Pacific Ocean; three or four species are native to Japanese waters, but all others are confined to the North American coast, mostly off California. One species, the tule perch

seaplane, any of a class of aircraft that can land, float, and take off on water. Seaplanes with boatlike hulls are also known as flying boats, those with separate pontoons or floats as floatplanes. The first practical seaplanes were built and flown in the United States by Glenn H. Curtiss, in 1911

Boston: Transportation: There a newly created Seaport District featured a large convention centre, an international trade centre, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and a series of hotels, restaurants, and residential buildings.

earthquake: Seiches: This phenomenon is called a seaquake.

Nicolas Malebranche: (1674–75; Search After Truth). Criticism of its theology by others led him to amplify his views in Traité de la nature et de la grâce (1680; Treatise of Nature and Grace). His Entretiens sur la métaphysique et sur la religion (1688; “Dialogues on Metaphysics and on…

information processing: Information searching and retrieval: State-of-the-art approaches to retrieving information employ two generic techniques: (1) matching words in the query against the database index (key-word searching) and (2) traversing the database with the aid of hypertext or hypermedia links.

search and seizure, practices engaged in by law enforcement officers in order to gain sufficient evidence to ensure the arrest and conviction of an offender. The latitude allowed police and other law enforcement agents in carrying out searches and seizures varies considerably from country to

search engine, computer program to find answers to queries in a collection of information, which might be a library catalog or a database but is most commonly the World Wide Web. A Web search engine produces a list of “pages”—computer files listed on the Web—that contain or relate to the terms in a

search engine optimization (SEO), practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of “organic” (unpaid) traffic to a website by improving its ranking in the indexes of search engines. Search engines use “bots” (data-collecting programs) to hunt the Web for pages. Information about these pages

SETI, ongoing effort to seek intelligent extraterrestrial life. SETI focuses on receiving and analyzing signals from space, particularly in the radio and visible-light regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, looking for nonrandom patterns likely to have been sent either deliberately or

Sam Rockwell: …Somebody to Love (1994), and The Search for One-Eye Jimmy (1994). However, it was his leading role as an eccentric free spirit in Box of Moonlight (1996) that first gained him widespread attention. He later had starring roles in such independent films as Lawn Dogs (1997) and Safe Men (1998),…

Lily Tomlin: …in the one-woman Broadway show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1985–86), for which she received a Tony for best actress. The 1991 film adaptation, however, was largely ignored.

Umberto Eco: …perfetta nella cultura europea (1993; The Search for the Perfect Language) and Kant e l’ornitorinco (1997; Kant and the Platypus). He edited the illustrated companion volumes Storia della bellezza (2004; History of Beauty) and Storia della bruttezza (2007; On Ugliness), and he wrote another pictorial book, Vertigine della lista (2009;…

Kevin Kline: Education and early roles: …part on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Kline first appeared on Broadway in 1973. His 1978 performance in the musical comedy On the Twentieth Century earned him a Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical. He won a second Tony Award (for best lead actor in a…

coloration: Coloration changes in populations: The phenomenon—known as a perceptual set or a search image—is exemplified by the predator of the European snail Cepaea. Predators encounter one morph and form a search image; they continue to hunt for that one form until its increasing rarity causes the predator to hunt randomly, encounter a different…

Peter A. Diamond: …their analysis of markets with search frictions.” The theoretical framework collectively developed by the three men—which describes the search activity of the unemployed, the methods by which firms recruit and formulate wages, and the effects of economic policies and regulation—became widely used in labour market analysis.

Alia Shawkat: Career: …in the dark comedy series Search Party, which follows the adventures of four friends searching for a former college classmate who has gone missing. In Time magazine’s review of the fifth season of Search Party, critic Judy Berman wrote that Shawkat’s portrayal of Sief “embodied the aimlessness of grads who’d…

operations research: Search problems: Search problems involve finding the best way to obtain information needed for a decision. Though every problem contains a search problem in one sense, situations exist in which search itself is the essential process; for example, in auditing accounts, inspection and quality control…

Annette Bening: Career: …The Face of Love (2013), The Search (2014), Danny Collins (2015), and 20th Century Women (2016). She also appeared in Rules Don’t Apply (2016), written and directed by Beatty, and played an aging Gloria Grahame in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (2017). In 2018 she starred in a film…

Fred Zinnemann: Films of the late 1930s and 1940s: Zinnemann’s next project, The Search (1948), was considerably more prestigious. The first film shot in Germany following the conclusion of World War II, it was the moving story of an American soldier (played by Montgomery Clift, in his second film) stationed in Berlin who tries to adopt a…

ground beetle: The searcher, or caterpillar hunter (Calosoma scrutator), is a common, brightly coloured North American ground beetle about 35 mm (1.5 inches) long. Its green or violet wings are edged in red, and its body has violet-blue, gold, and green markings. This and related species of ground beetles are…

The Searchers, American western film, released in 1956, that is widely considered director John Ford’s masterpiece. It features John Wayne in one of his most-notable performances, portraying perhaps the most morally ambiguous character of his career. Ethan Edwards (played by Wayne) is a mysterious

British Invasion: …exuberant male quartets such as the Searchers, the Fourmost, and Gerry and the Pacemakers—plus the quintet Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas—launched “Merseybeat,” so named for the estuary that runs alongside Liverpool. The Beatles first reached the British record charts in late 1962 (shortly after the Tornados’ “Telstar,” an instrumental…

the Coasters: …directed at teenage listeners: “Searchin’ ” and “Young Blood” (both 1957), “Yakety Yak” (1958), and “Charlie Brown” and “Poison Ivy” (both 1959). The Coasters alternated lead singers and featured clever arrangements, including amusing bass replies and tenor saxophone solos by King Curtis, who played a crucial role in creating…

information processing: Information searching and retrieval: State-of-the-art approaches to retrieving information employ two generic techniques: (1) matching words in the query against the database index (key-word searching) and (2) traversing the database with the aid of hypertext or hypermedia links.

Laurence Fishburne: Film roles: … (1991), Deep Cover (1992), and Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). His portrayal of musician Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993) earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. In 1995 he became the first African American to play Shakespeare’s Othello in a major film.…

Anne Tyler: …of Celestial Navigation (1974) and Searching for Caleb (1975) that Tyler came to nationwide attention.

Kate Grenville: …wrote such nonfiction books as Searching for the Secret River (2006) and One Life: My Mother’s Story (2015).

Montgomery Clift: …Teeth (1942), and Lillian Hellman’s The Searching Wind (1944). He worked with, among others, actor Alfred Lunt and director Robert Lewis (both of whom served as mentors) and became known for the intelligence and dedication he brought to his work.

searchlight, high-intensity electric light with a reflector shaped to concentrate the beam, used to illuminate or search for distant objects or as a beacon. Carbon arc lamps have been used from about 1870 and from about 1910 rare-earth fluorides or oxides have been added to the carbon to create

Searcy, city, seat (1837) of White county, east-central Arkansas, U.S., near the Little Red River, 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Little Rock. It originated as White Sulphur Springs, a spa popular in the 19th century until the springs ran dry. Incorporated in 1835, it was renamed for Richard Searcy,

John Searle was an American philosopher best known for his work in the philosophy of language—especially speech act theory—and the philosophy of mind. He also made significant contributions to epistemology, ontology, the philosophy of social institutions, and the study of practical reason. He

Ronald Searle was a British graphic satirist, best known for his cartoons of the girls at an imaginary boarding school he called St. Trinian’s. Searle was educated at the Cambridge School of Art and published his first humorous work in the late 1930s. During World War II he served with the Royal

Ronald Searle was a British graphic satirist, best known for his cartoons of the girls at an imaginary boarding school he called St. Trinian’s. Searle was educated at the Cambridge School of Art and published his first humorous work in the late 1930s. During World War II he served with the Royal

Searles Lake, playa in San Bernardino county, southern California, U.S. Lying to the west of the southern edge of Death Valley National Park, it formed part of a Pleistocene drainage network linking a number of now-arid basins. Certain minerals constituting the playa’s evaporites are relatively

Sears, American retailer of general merchandise, tools, home appliances, clothing, and automotive parts and services. It is a subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation, which, following a bankruptcy auction, was purchased by the hedge fund ESL Investments in 2019. In 1886 Richard W. Sears founded

Willis Tower, skyscraper in Chicago, located at 233 South Wacker Drive, that was the world’s tallest building until 1996. That year it was surpassed by the Petronas Twin Towers (1,483 feet [452 meters] tall), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sears Tower, as the building was originally called, opened to

Atari console, video game console released in 1977 by the North American game manufacturer Atari, Inc. Using a cartridge-based system that allowed users to play a variety of video games, the Atari console marked the beginning of a new era in home gaming systems. Developed by Atari cofounder Nolan

Isaac Sears was a patriot leader in New York City before the American Revolution, who earned the nickname “King Sears” by virtue of his prominent role in inciting and commanding anti-British demonstrations. A merchant whose shipping activities included privateering, Sears first exhibited his

Richard Dudley Sears was the first American men’s singles champion in lawn tennis (1881) and winner of that title for each of the six following years. His record has never been equaled by any other amateur player. Sears also won the U.S. men’s doubles championship for six straight years (1882–84

Richard W. Sears was an American merchant who developed his mail-order jewelry business into the huge retail company Sears, Roebuck. Sears’s father had been wealthy but lost his fortune in speculation. After his death the young Sears, age 17, went to work for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway

Richard W. Sears was an American merchant who developed his mail-order jewelry business into the huge retail company Sears, Roebuck. Sears’s father had been wealthy but lost his fortune in speculation. After his death the young Sears, age 17, went to work for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway

frustration-aggression hypothesis: Background and assumptions: Mowrer, and Robert Sears—in an important monograph, Frustration and Aggression (1939), in which they integrated ideas and findings from several disciplines, especially sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Their work was notable for its eclectic use of psychoanalysis, behaviourism, and Marxism. It became

Sears, American retailer of general merchandise, tools, home appliances, clothing, and automotive parts and services. It is a subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation, which, following a bankruptcy auction, was purchased by the hedge fund ESL Investments in 2019. In 1886 Richard W. Sears founded

William Le Baron Jenney: …of Montgomery Ward); and the second Leiter Building (1889–90), which became Sears, Roebuck and Co.’s Loop store.

high seas: …subjected to national sovereignty (freedom of the seas) was proposed by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius as early as 1609. It did not become an accepted principle of international law, however, until the 19th century. Freedom of the seas was ideologically connected with other 19th-century freedoms, particularly laissez-faire economic…

Seasat, experimental U.S. ocean surveillance satellite launched June 26, 1978. During its 99 days of operation, Seasat orbited the Earth 14 times daily. Instruments of the unmanned spacecraft, engineered to penetrate cloud cover, provided data on a wide array of oceanographic conditions and

Winslow Homer: The move to Prouts Neck: …to America in 1883, the sea became the dominant theme in his work. He moved to Prouts Neck, a fishing village on the bleak, desolate coast of Maine. He traveled extensively but always returned to his Prouts Neck studio to convert his sketches into major paintings. Solitude became for Homer…