Z
From CleanPosts
Zaffre
Zaffre is a crude oxide of cobalt obtained by heating cobalt ore in a current
of air. It was used to prepare smalt and to stain glass blue during Victorian
times.
Zetran
Zetran is a tradename for Chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride.
Zheng Fen
Zheng Fen ("competing for points") is an interesting hybrid card game between a
climbing game and a point-trick game. The mechanics are like those of Zheng
Shangyou or Big Two but the primary aim is to win points rather than
necessarily to get rid of cards as quickly as possible. The point values of
cards are the same as in the popular Chinese point-trick game Da Bai Fen
(Hundred). From three to six people can play and a 54 card pack is used,
consisting of the standard 52 cards plus two distinguishable jokers, big and
small. Generally the red or colourful joker is agreed to be the big one. The
object is to win valuable cards in tricks. The fives are worth 5 points each,
and the tens and kings are worth 10 points each. All the other cards are
worthless. There are therefore 100 points in total to be won on each hand. A
target score for the game is agreed - generally 500 or (for a longer game)
1000. The winner is the first player whose score reaches or exceeds the target.
Zheng Shangyou
Zheng Shangyou is a Chinese card game whose name can be roughly translated as
Struggling Upstream. The game exists in several variations, and has various
alternative names. According to Zhang Shutai, the most interesting version is
the partnership game for six players, also known as San jia xi (family of
three) or Huojian (rocket). This is a skilful and light-hearted card game for
four or more players, probably best with 5 or 6. Zheng Shangyou was brought to
the UK by John McLeod, who learned it during a visit to China by some British
Go players in 1979 from an interpreter Zhang Chuansheng. In Britain it was
given the name Pits, which is easier to pronounce, and refers to the
predicament of the losing players, who find themselves in a pit which is hard
to escape from. A couple to whom Jonathan Norris taught it reported that they
call it "Unto him...". It is closely related to several other games - the
Japanese Dai Hin Min (or Dai Fugo), Vietnamese Tieng Len, Chinese Big Two and
the Western derivative usually called Asshole or President. In fact you could
argue that these are really all versions of the same game. Zheng Shangyou uses
a 54-card pack consisting of the standard 52 cards with the addition of two
distinguishable jokers, referred to as Red and Black. The object of each hand
is to be the first to play out all one's cards and thereby gain 2 points, or
second and gain 1, towards a rubber-winning total of (usually) 11.
Zinc
Zinc is a metal element with the symbol Zn.
Zirconium
Zirconium is a lustrous, greyish-white, strong, ductile, metallic element, with
the symbol Zr. It occurs in nature as the mineral zircon (zirconium silicate),
from which it is obtained commercially. It is used in some ceramics, alloys for
wire and filaments, steel manufacture, and nuclear reactors, where its low
neutron absorption is advantageous.
Zither
The zither is an Austrian musical instrument.
Zodiac
The zodiac is the name given by the Greeks to the heavens.
Zoology
Zoology is the science which deals with the structure, life-history, habits and
activities of animals.
Zwitterion
Zwitterion is an ion that has both a positive and a negative charge, such as an
amino acid in neutral solution.
ZX80
The ZX80 was a revolutionary computer invented by Clive Sinclair and released
in 1980. It was based upon the Z80 microprocessor, and used few other chips. It
had a built in BASIC interpreter and introduced computing for the first time to
the masses by being affordable by any household. Video display was produced by
a domestic television set which was connected by an aerial fly-lead to the
computer. A year later the ZX80 was replaced by the improved ZX81 which in turn
was replaced in 1982 by the far superior ZX Spectrum.
ZX81
The ZX81 was a revolutionary computer invented by Clive Sinclair and released
in 1981. It was based upon the Z80 microprocessor, and used only three other
chips in the basic model which had just 1K of RAM (enough to hold a functional
player v computer chess game). It had a built in BASIC interpreter and
introduced mass computing for the first time to the masses by being affordable
by any household. Video display was produced by a domestic television set which
was connected by an aerial fly-lead to the computer. Peripherals could be
fitter to an exposed slot of the PCB, the most popular being a 16K RAM
extension (RAM pack). Most remarkable was the award winning manual which
accompanied the ZX81 which taught computing basics and the BASIC programming
language in a clear and popular language for the first time. It replaced the
ZX80 and was replaced itself in 1982 by the far superior ZX Spectrum.
Zyklon-B
Zyklon-B was a poison gas used in Nazi extermination camps. It was a cyanide
compound originally developed for fumigation purposes in the 1920s. It was
actually a crystalline compound which gave off hydrogen cyanide gas when
exposed to the air. It was first used against humans in a euthanasia programme
in 1939, aimed at ridding Germany of lunatics, incurable invalids, and other
'undesirables'. The victims were induced to enter a 'shower bath', Zyklon-B was
released, and the gas killed them in a few minutes. When the extermination
camps were set up, this method was adopted as standard and was responsible for
several million deaths. The inventor, Dr Bruno Tesch, was convicted of war
crimes and executed for his manufacture and supply of the substance to the
camps.
Zymase
Zymase is an enzyme formed in yeast cells which converts sugar into alcohol and
carbonic acid gas.
